Retirement

For most people, a lot of their life social interaction revolves around work and work colleagues. Retirement comes as shock when that interaction is gone. It is critical to a happy and healthy retirement that pro-active steps are taken to create new social interactions. This takes a bit of effort. Options include volunteering, joining clubs which interest you, becoming a sporting club supporter, group travel, attending classes or talks in a subject of interest, public speaking etc. A bit of self analysis is needed.

If you are still at a loss, try court visits. Most courts are open to the public. I met a lady who goes to court three days a week. It gets her out, she meets like minded people and it gives her brain a circuit breaker to follow. Better than reading crime novels at home on your own! Do a little research first about do's and dont's.

If you have other ideas for retirement activities, please let me know:

leonxpaul1@gmail.com

Volunteering

I spent 2015-2018 volunteering with the Sydney Heritage Fleet (formerly the Sydney Maritime Museum) which specialises in restoring and operating historic vessels. During that time I crewed on the historic tall ship SV James Craig 1874 doing numerous offshore day cruises and short sea voyages to Jervis Bay and Broken Bay. A fantastic experience. For more see Sports/sailing and below.

I met a guy on a walk who volunteers with the Australian Museum. He has become an expert on molluscs which includes oysters. If you have an interest in astronomy, NASA has a large group of volunteers helping with the analysis of their enormous volumes of space data. Then of course there is social volunteering like "Meals on Wheels" or volunteering in hospitals or patient transport. One of our neighbours is a rotating vessel guide volunteer at the National Maritime Museum. Another is a guide at the Sydney Opera House. A former advertising agency colleague runs Marine Rescue NSW at the Spit in Sydney https://www.marinerescuensw.com.au/

To get started, find an organisation or institution you would be interested in joining and supply the with your interests, qualifications and abilities. Interested in helping your community? NRMA has an Australian Resilience Corps https://tinyurl.com/yc3bbfh3. Interested in gardening? Try a garden club https://gardenclubs.org.au/locate-a-club/ Do you read the papers at home? Why not read them at a community radio station and assist the visually impaired?

Local Councils

Contact your local council. The Northern Beaches Council, for example, provides several online resources to find community organisations, charities, and groups. You can locate specific services using the following Council directories:

• Community Directory: A comprehensive search tool to find nearby services, welfare assistance, and local non-profits. 
• Registered Community Groups: A maintained list of local associations, environmental initiatives, and neighbourhood groups, such as the Animal Welfare League. 
• Community Volunteer Opportunities: A curated list of local organisations currently seeking community volunteers. 

Volunteer programs - City of Sydney

The City of Sydney encourages people to do something good for local communities by donating their time.

City of Sydney

Volunteer opportunities in All Sydney, NSW | NSW Volunteering

Find volunteer opportunities at NSW Volunteering with 1820 opportunities found in All Sydney, NSW and the surrounding areas

NSW Volunteering

Ask AI

"What are the volunteering options in Sydney". If you tell me your preferred suburb or area of interest (such as animals, events, or helping the homeless), I can narrow down specific organisations for you.

Conferences and Meetings

I attended a conference at the National Maritime Museum about NSW Marine National Parks sussing out volunteering opportunities.

Franchising

You can always buy a franchise and get someone to run it if it is any good. There are franchising consultants who might be able to help with this.

Commercial Recruitment Services

Some of the commercial recruitment services have specialised volunteering services https://www.volunteer.com.au/

Probus

Probus is the retirement version of Rotary but you do not have to have been in Rotary to become a member of a Probus Club. Probus is a fantastic retirement option for creating new social contacts, meeting new friends and discovering new activities. My Probus club has recently introduced Pickle Ball which has become very popular. Probus is a large organisation with over 1400 clubs in Australia and NZ with 100,000+ members. It is celebrating its 50th anniversary in Australia this year (2026). https://probussouthpacific.org/find-a-probus-club/ See the central column of this blog for current examples of my Probus club activities.

Manly Probus Club (Sydney)

I spent 18 wonderful years in Manly Probus Club, Guest Speaker 4 years, President (2010) when I drove the process for MPC to change from a Mens' club to a mixed club. I developed the club's first web site in 2008. Many of our members were ex WW II war veterans. Our Treasurer was in the Australian Army Signals Corps and was one of the first Australians into Japan after the surrender. He went to Hiroshima one month after the bomb had been dropped. Another member was a navigator on the mosquito pathfinders leading the bomber fleets into Germany. Amazing welcoming people.

The State Emergency Service (SES)

The State Emergency Service (SES) has no upper age limit and welcomes older or retired volunteers. Older members often contribute valuable life experience, daytime availability, and specialised skills to non-physical, operational support, and community education roles rather than heavy physical labour. https://www.ses.nsw.gov.au/volunteer

Operational Support Roles

• Communications and Dispatch: Managing radios, taking calls, and logging incident data from base operations.
• Incident Management: Assisting in control centres with planning, logistics, administration, and record-keeping.
• Fleet and Logistics: Maintaining equipment, managing stores, and preparing supplies for deployment.

Community Education and Engagement

• Public Awareness: Visiting schools, community groups, and local events to teach flood and storm safety.
• Media and Liaison: Managing local public relations, social media, or community stakeholder networks.

U3A University of the Third Age

U3A branches have extensive lecture events. Gets you out of the house and exercises the mind.

https://www.sydneyu3a.org/

Sydney Heritage Fleet

As outlined at the top of this page my personal major volunteering experience was with with the Sydney Heritage Fleet which was the original Sydney Maritime Museum. They had to change their name after the Australian Government established the National Maritime Museum in Sydney. I volunteered from 2013-2018 and enjoyed some of the most amazing experiences of my life (69-75 years old) from climbing a tall mast at sea, which changes you psychologically, to various hands on-maintenance activities, to participating in rewarding youth activities.

I got into this by asking myself the fundamental retirement question "What do I like? What interests me?" I have been a sailor since I was 15 so the answer was obvious "boats and salt water". The Sydney Heritage Fleet fitted the bill. I could also have volunteered with one of the many sailing clubs around Sydney or Marine Rescue NSW etc.

I crewed on three historic vessels SV James Craig (1874 also see Sports page), gentleman's schooner Boomerang() and converted 40ft WW ll workboat ferry Harman(1943). They all provided very different experiences. There is a lot of information here mainly for my memories. Skip it if you are not interested in heritage vessels.

SV James Craig 1874