What has Andrew Byrne been up to lately?

Allan just said to me over our penultimate Honolulu breakfast “how did we get old so quickly?” 

What a question?  With no answer apart from a whole lot of gratitude.  And perhaps an appropriate time to put a few words down for posterity of our luck in meeting up with fascinating people, places and circumstances, some quite remarkable. 

Before retiring, I ran a medical practice in Redfern while Allan had worked for the NSW Minister of Education at Circular Quay until about ten years earlier. 

Forgetting the memories of last year’s New York spring at Hampshire House, our present travel log starts in May 2025 on our beloved Lord Howe Island where we coincidentally joined my niece (Dr) Gracie Hay and long time partner Dr Luke Steller (PhD) for a couple of days of glorious overlapping holidays.  Since then they have married in Central Australia and recently followed in our footsteps in a long and somewhat delayed honeymoon.  Despite not overlapping this time we enjoyed Waikiki Beach within weeks of each other and have been in constant touch for recommendations, encouragement against the prevailing political turmoil in the world, etcetera.  Gracie started a week earlier at her mother’s in Mullumbimby (my sister Mindy), then Calgary, Honolulu, Kona, Nashville, New York and London (Wimbledon).  All have yielded happy surprises and now on Instagram for photographic proof if any were needed. 

With our own Hawaiian holiday in recent memory there were numerous memorable moments, a year after the presidential election including a ride with an older taxi driver who heard our back seat conversation in which my partner Allan said something to the effect of: “Well, elected members should need to say that they may disagree with the members opposite but they will abide to respect their views and decisions while they remain in a majority”.  The old cabbie said that this was the most sensible thing he had ever heard in his car in 30 years of driving.  He then dropped us duly at the Elk Club on East Waikiki Beach near the Diamond Head rise for a dinner with friends near the end of our marvelous Hawaiian adventure. 

Without a mensa brain, lacking patience and a habit of waffling I have never excelled at anything very much in life, despite notching up a few odd diverse contributions.  A naive insecurity or mere shyness prevented me singing in the school choir, acting or debating.  I literally fell into addiction medicine due to the HIV situation back in the late 1980s.  So, if anything secures my place in posterity it would be for making preserves and running reunions and class blogs.  This yields some ill-deserved gratitude with only a modest input from me.  My school motto was ‘to be rather than to seem to be’.  I seem to have learned best to fake things in life and usually get away with exactly the opposite of the motto: 'Fake it 'til you make it'.  

Since retiring I have spent untold hours reading Shakespeare, I started with Cymbeline.  Plays, sonnets, poems, critiques, etc plus the life and times in England circa 1600.  It has been a great joy and I have now read over 20 books on the subject from Bill Bryson to Stephen Greenblatt to Judi Dench to James Shapiro and other captivating and knowledgeable writers.  But mostly the words of the Bard himself which speak for themselves, even though it sometimes takes a little effort to derive the fullest pleasure and meaning.  I’ve memorised a few speeches, mostly short and concise, not that I think anyone would be interested to hear me! 

Best wishes to my readers, family, neighbours, etc and hope all have a nice summer on the way. 

Andrew Byrne ..

       Luke, Gracie, Andrew and Allan on the wharf at Lord Howe Island.  

PS - I have just recharged my EV after a trip of about 150km.  It cost $2.00!