There was something different about Jayne Azzopardi’s farewell to Tim Davies.

She wasn’t simply saying goodbye to a colleague she had spent years beside on Today. She was farewelling someone she had known long before television, before the weather crosses and before millions of Australians knew his face.

And that history made one of her quietest observations about Tim feel particularly meaningful.

Long Before Today, There Was a Childhood Connection

Jayne and Tim both grew up in Sydney’s Sutherland Shire and had known each other since they were children.

Years later, their paths crossed again at Nine, where Jayne became one of the familiar faces on Today and Tim became the program’s much-loved weather presenter.

By then, viewers knew Tim for his energy, humour and willingness to throw himself into almost anything the show asked of him.

But Jayne had known the person behind that television personality for much longer.

That gave her farewell a perspective few others could have offered.

“You’re Special to Me Because You’re Real”

When Tim first announced that he would be leaving Today after more than seven years, Jayne admitted she had been “in denial” since he told her.

Then she explained what made his departure particularly difficult.

“You’re special to me because you’re real, and that’s why our viewers love you,” she told him.

It was a simple description, but coming from someone who had known Tim since childhood, it carried a little more weight.

Jayne was not describing a television persona.

She was describing the person she had known long before the cameras.

She then added a line that seemed almost perfectly suited to the man who had spent seven years delivering Australia’s weather.

“You bring sunshine everywhere you go,” she told him.

The Person Behind the Weather Crosses

Tim’s Today career was certainly full of big moments.

He reported from locations across Australia and overseas, took part in skydives, bungee jumps, abseiling challenges and high-performance driving events, and even got close to sharks and crocodiles during live broadcasts.

But his role was never simply about spectacular television.

Nine’s Director of Morning Television, Steven Burling, highlighted the way Tim used his platform to showcase small towns, communities and local causes to a national audience.

That became an important part of his identity on the program.

The weather report might have been the reason he was there.

The people he met along the way often became the story.

Seven Years — And More Than 900 Flights

Since joining Today in 2019, Tim travelled extensively for the program, completing more than 900 flights as he brought weather reports to viewers from different parts of Australia and beyond.

By the time he announced his departure, the constant travel had become a defining part of the job.

Nine said it supported Tim’s decision to “lay down some roots” after seven years of living out of a suitcase.

For Tim himself, the decision was also about experiencing life beyond the relentless rhythm of breakfast television.

He said he wanted to sleep in, take a break without a camera crew and prepare for whatever came next.

His Final Morning Was Filled With People From His Journey

On September 18, Tim delivered his final weather report on Today.

The program turned his last morning into a celebration, with familiar faces and unexpected surprises appearing throughout the broadcast.

His original Today producer, Gerry Campbell, returned for the occasion. Members of the Australian Girls’ Choir also joined the farewell, while Qantas staff presented Tim with gifts and revealed just how extraordinary his travel schedule had been — equivalent to travelling around the globe roughly 16 times.

At one point, Tim joked that the farewell felt like waking up at his own funeral, surrounded by so many of the people he loved.

The humour was unmistakably Tim.

But beneath it was a very real sense of emotion.

“One of the Hardest Things in Life…”

When the celebrations finally gave way to Tim’s last words to viewers, the tone changed.

“One of the hardest things in life is to be your true authentic self,” he said.

He thanked the Today audience for accepting him and allowing him to simply be himself every half-hour.

He also spoke about the extraordinary response he had received since announcing his departure — messages, letters, direct messages, handshakes and even quick moments with viewers at airports while he was travelling.

For someone who had spent years travelling the country, those small encounters had clearly become part of the story too.

And Now, He’s Stepping Into the Unknown

Tim has not yet announced what his next professional chapter will look like.

For now, he has said he plans to take a break before deciding what comes next.

“I have been everywhere. I have done everything, and I’ve done it with the best people,” he said during his final day, adding that it was time to “do life a little bit more”.

Later, he offered another thought that seemed fitting for the beginning of a new chapter.

“The best journeys begin when you say yes and have the courage to step into the unknown.”

And perhaps that is what made Jayne Azzopardi’s earlier words feel so poignant.

She had known Tim before the television career, before the thousands of kilometres, before the weather reports and the familiar smile appearing in Australian homes each morning.

After all those years, the person she recognised was still the same.

And as Tim Davies walked away from Today, that may have been the most meaningful thing his farewell revealed.