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David Watson

  • Home
  • Exhibitions
    • Koala Inn (2024)
    • unentitled (2024)
    • Firetides (2023)
    • In the Woods (2022)
    • Jerrys Malfunction (2021)
    • Curbed & Gutted (2019)
    • Dear Gladys (2019)
    • PISS OFF WESTCONNEX (2019)
    • Liquorland Gallery (2018)
    • Sensitive Receivers (2017)
    • The Bridge (2016)
    • Made in Callan Street (2016)
    • ACTION #1 (2015)
    • Abbott-Proof Fence (2015)
    • Instruments of Democracy (2015)
    • Leave It in the Ground (2013)
    • Settling In (2013)
    • Meshes of the RTA (2013)
    • Wild Ryde (2011)
    • swimming home (2011)
    • Cry Me a River (2010)
    • Trampolines of Bennelong (2008)
    • Walking With Cars (2008)
    • Terror Australis (2004)
    • Wulumay Close (2004)
    • New South Wonderland (2000)
  • About
  • Blog
  • 44 News
  • Contact
David Watson

The Winter Key

Added on August 3, 2024 by David Watson.

Whilst Olympian deeds to the north have soaked up much of the coverage, here in the south three Giants, a Trek and a Carpe Diem have continued quietly to convene most mornings this chilly winter to chew the fat, to swim and sometimes shiver together @ Dawn Fraser Baths in Balmain, where the water temperature descends reliably each year to a sharpish 12 degrees.

The camaraderie of ‘The Winter Key’ – the pure exhilaration of immersing oneself in and ploughing the health-giving waters of Sydney Harbour with a handful of like-minded, increasingly-leathery inner-west legends – has proved irresistible to many of us for over 20 years, and remains an essential antidote to seasonal (even Trumpian) malaise.

Winter @ DFB is also about escaping the crowd, about having it (almost) to yourself, with no passing parade, no lane ropes and no lifeguards. It’s a time of freedom and idiosyncrasy: Dallas, for example, chooses to swim the (quite-complex) perimeter of the pool as opposed to conventional lengths, Jen regularly records the day’s water temp by inscribing a figure in the virgin sand with her flipper, and Nick, après-swim, is often as not upside down in a faultless yoga pose beside the pool’s elegant new stainless-steel railings.

Nor is the natural world ever far away: on Friday Greg swam out a few metres from Dawnie’s small but perfectly-formed beach to introduce us to the pool’s elusive resident flathead; earlier in the week Judy, departing on her bike, reported her first magpie swoop. In the pool there are almost always smartly-attired seagulls on duty. Sleek black cormorants chase schools of tiny prawns into the shallows and on occasion a lone darter, bittern or sea eagle surveys the scene.

As spring approaches and winds recede, below the glinting mirror surface a few wary whiting and luderick have begun to re-appear amongst the sea grass. Beneath the pontoon and around the stairs awaits a veritable aquatic flock of 200 or so patient bream, sustained throughout the long winter by Tony’s small but seemingly bottomless white-plastic bucket.

Above David, Judy, Ros, Kel and their steeds @ DFB, 28 July 2024. Pic Denise

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