MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT

Looking at my last message, I realise that months have now passed. So, after my wishes for an agreeable and cosy winter, it is time to express my hope that you enjoy the festive season and a lovely, not too hot summer.

Over the past year, SCCS members enjoyed a variety of engaging outings, lunches and get-togethers with other Swiss people. It is one of the main aims of our society to bring people together and thus avoid loneliness and boredom. I always hope that through our activities, participants will make new friends and then have the energy to also meet some of these without our input.

There is a retirement village in Lindfield where several of our members live. One by one they have decided to settle near their friends. I think that is a great idea. The Swiss cleverly chose to live close to each other to strengthen their friendship and avoid isolation. So, when someone elderly approaches me in regard to planning their future living arrangements, I always mention this village as a possibility.

On a personal note, my husband and I spent several weeks in Switzerland. We were extremely lucky, as summer over there had just properly started when we arrived in early August. Spring and the month of July had been wet and miserable, everyone assured us. Now however, we experienced a 'calendar time' in our home country: sun, blue sky, warm temperatures. We made the best of it by travelling to many great destinations.

With a 'GA' in our pocket (general ticket for public transport in Switzerland which is now available for just one month) we zoomed several times between Bern, Basel, Lucerne and St. Gallen and enjoyed mountain tops of the Alps like the Niesen, Schynige Platte and others. We also hiked up to the Creux du Van in the Jura, which is unknown to many Swiss, even in Switzerland. Called the 'Swiss Grand Canyon', it is a most fascinating natural rock arena of immense proportions. (See images). In two hours, we walked up to it from Val de Travers, but if you travel by car, you can get quite close from the other side.

When people tell me that they are thinking of perhaps moving back to Switzerland for their remaining years, I never say no straight away. There might be good reasons for such thoughts. But when I remind such a person, that in Switzerland the sunny and warm season of the year is quite short, and that the weather, as they show it in all Swiss calendars, is very often different, they agree. Therefore, let’s never forget, how wonderful the climate generally is here in Australia, with the sun shining so often, and where long stretches of rainy, cloudy, foggy and really miserable days are rare. After all these years living in Australia, I think, for me, such depressing weather would be the most difficult aspect of getting used to when moving back 'home'.

Regula Scheidegger, President SCCS

December 2024