Summer in Sydney means ... slowing down, the Botanic Garden and jasmine

What does a Sydney summer mean to you?

The city finally slows down. It’s the liminal space when Christmas is over and the year has ended, but the new one is yet to really begin. Most people are off work or school, and many are out of town. It’s a magical time of spontaneity and serendipity.

Swimmers at Tamarama Beach earlier this summer.Credit: Edwina Pickles

There are long, languid days for daydreaming and reading books, festive leftovers to savour, and the sensual pleasures of saltwater and sand.

Even when I’m working, it’s a break in the routine because the news cycle is different and the readers are relaxed.

Earliest memory of summer in Sydney?

Drinking pink lemonade and arranging frangipani flowers in the slats of the table at the beer garden at Dick’s Hotel in Balmain, while wearing a yellow sundress. I was about six or seven.

My dad took me to the beach a lot, and although I wore sunscreen, I was always very brown with a shock of white-blonde hair. Often it was Tamarama, where I’d be dumped by the waves, spin in a yellow and red tulip in the playground, and try to eat a Heart ice cream before it melted on the trek back to the car.

First place you take visitors?

It goes without saying that every visitor should explore the Royal Botanic Garden, admire the Opera House (and say hi to Benny the fur seal) and go for a ferry ride. But when I’m playing tour guide, we might head to Coogee for the beach, Wylie’s Baths, a clifftop walk and a proper Sydney brunch.

Spectacular Sydney Harbour is always a winner with visitors. Credit: Wild Sydney Harbour

Favourite cafe?

Ever since interest rate rises sent my mortgage costs soaring, I have been making my own coffee in the office and at home.

Secret spot you escape to?

One of the half a dozen national parks in and around Sydney for a bushwalk to a freshwater swimming hole. I love the beach but there’s something so nourishing about swimming in clear, fresh water surrounded by trees, away from the crowds. My family and I have our own special place, but you’ll need to find your own. There are plenty of hidden billabongs around Sydney and books and maps and websites to help you find them.

The best summer food is …

Mango and prawns – especially together in a salad.

You can’t go past prawns.Credit: Edwina Pickles

I know it’s summer when I smell …

The scent of jasmine, mingled with the mineral smell of wet pavement after an afternoon storm.

My favourite summer song is …

Among recent-ish songs, Lorde’s Solar Power and Vance Joy’s Riptide evoke different aspects of summer.

My nostalgia picks are Belinda Carlisle’s Summer Rain or Enya’s Orinoco Flow, better known as Sail Away. Or REM’s Nightswimming – I’ve never thought of it as a summer song before, but when else would you go swimming at night?

The worst thing about summer is …

Opening the balcony doors at night because it’s hot and then being kept awake by the whine of a tiny mosquito. I can sleep through the mating call of the eastern koels, but not the mozzies.

Guilty pleasure?

Ice cream from Cow & the Moon on Enmore Road, but without the guilt.

Gelato from Cow & the Moon in Enmore helps me chill out in the heat.

What aspect of summer life would you change, and what do you want to always stay the same?

I would definitely change the cycle of bushfires and floods that has dominated for the past few years. When it comes to climate change, despair is a luxury we can’t afford. We have the solutions and we need to get on with it.

I always want to keep the feeling of collectively letting go. It all feels so busy in the lead-up to Christmas, but then we reach the finish line and whatever we’ve done, it’s enough. Summer is a time for being rather than doing.

Summer in Sydney is a series where Herald staff reveal the best – and worst – of our city in the hotter months.

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