Azure Blue Carina, Tangara West End, Wondall Gardens Manly West.
We're glad you stopped by.
Whatever you're considering, someone here has already experienced it. Tap the one that sounds like you.
"I'm not sure it's my scene"
Helen had doubts. Chris had no idea what to expect. Marion wasn’t looking to move.
"I was a bit shy first off"
Marion · 5 years in the village | 1:30 min
Five years on, Marion and her friend Norma run the village's Biggest Morning Tea, which has raised money for Cancer Council since 2001. They added a market the week before, then donations from local MPs and Bunnings, then a full auction. Their stated aim is getting people out of their homes.
"You know that if you need something, no matter what it is, there's always someone at the end of the phone that could come and help, which is lovely."
"A new lease of life"
Chris · 1 year in the village | 2:00 min
A big house that was getting hard to maintain, and no real idea what retirement living would be like. She brought her cat. Now it's wallabies on the morning walk and St Patrick's Day with the whole village "pumping".
“I really didn’t know what retirement living was going to be like, and it’s the best choice I ever made.”
"It wasn't my scene"
Helen · 7 years in the village | 2:26 min
"I looked at several retirement villages and decided it wasn't my scene. So I just started looking at units around the suburbs."
Then her grandson, who used to make deliveries to Azure Blue Carina, told her to look at one more. Helen has since been hung twice in the Moran Portrait Prize — unusual for a hobby artist — and started a monthly happy hour with a couple of friends. Everyone arrives with their own prosecco.
"I'd be on my own"
Neville (and his dog Freddie) found their people. Sheena found a social life. Christina and Anita found a community.
"I'm only popular because I own the dog"
Neville · 22 years in Hervey Bay | 2:14 min
"After my wife passed away, my daughter said, 'Dad, you need a dog to look after.' And I said, 'No, I don't.' But she insisted — and it was the best thing she ever did for me."
Neville and his wife travelled Australia looking for somewhere to settle and stopped in Hervey Bay almost by accident. Twenty-two years later, he can't get past a house without someone coming out to give Freddie a treat. Freddie has also worked out that neighbours with mobility scooters will give him a lift.
"We live on a permanent holiday"
Anita & Christina · New Haven | 1:55 min
Gardening has pulled the village together — alongside three looms always in play, mosaics, five pets and a morning walk to the boardwalk that ends in coffee.
"There's always somebody to call on. I feel so secure and so comfortable here. You can pop in for a cuppa anytime you like."
"Work was my whole social life too"
Sheena · 14 years in the village | 2:03 min
"When I retired and found myself living alone in the suburbs, the isolation really hit. Then I took a tour through Carlyle Gardens. The moment I stepped in, I just knew."
She put the house on the market and moved within a month. That was fourteen years ago.
"I'd not ready yet"
Fair enough — most people aren't. These three went earlier than they had planned to and will tell you what that was like. No hurry from us either way. Ready when you're ready.
"I bought a scooter I didn't want, now what? So I started a scooter club."
Margaret · 10 years in the village | 2:32 min
"The younger you go into a retirement village, the more you can do."
The scooter club rides in Hervey Bay's annual convoy — 21 people, and one year she sewed royal gowns and golden canopies for the "royal coaches".
"We walked in the front door, out the back and Maisie said, 'We'll take it'"
Maisie & John · 3 years in the village | 2:11 min
"Everyone's really friendly. You're not pestered. You can just be yourself. Best thing we ever did."
They moved while they were still "youngish". There was no garden when they arrived, just weeds — which suited them perfectly. Spare lemons and mandarins go in a basket outside for anyone to take.
"Right mate — when you retire, we're moving somewhere warm"
Di & John · 7 years in the village | 2:04 min
"When we first moved in, we said to each other, let's give the social activities a go. And that's really where it all started."
John joined the army in '63 and they met in Western Australia. Fifteen years at Carlyle Gardens now — choir together, indoor bowls, and a caravan they can take out without worrying who's watching the place.
"What would I do all day?"
A regatta in Boston, 450 songs in rotation, and the heated pool at seven every morning. Three people on what actually fills the week.
"Every morning, 7am I'm in the heated pool."
David · 1 year in the village | 1:49 min
"I love the pool. I've missed one day in nearly a year. It's so handy. It's so easy."
A builder who spent his life restoring houses around Petrie Terrace. Under a year in the village and, as he puts it, no chance of moving. Wednesdays are the community bus, doughnuts and coffee.
"Nobody's playing here? There is now"
Geoff & Vi · 7 years in the village | 2:07 min
"We couldn't imagine not being here now. The friends we've made — they've become like family."
They saw the empty music room on the tour and decided on the spot. About 450 songs in rotation now, '50s through '90s. Geoff watches feet from the stage — if the feet are moving, it's working.
"I can just lock the door and walk out"
John · 3 years in the village | 1:49 min
"My time is my own and I don't have to put it into gardens or maintenance."
Rowing since 1969, still with men he went to school with. He liked Tangara enough to tell his brother to look at the units — now their kids see each other regularly. Next week, a regatta in Boston.
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