When the theme for RetireAustralia’s nationwide photo competition was announced, the community at Murray Gardens Retirement Village knew that they had a winning picture!
The quirky shot shows a new side of the village residents and perfectly embodies the theme of ‘what retirement means to you and why you love living in your village’.
“Just look at the smiles on those people’s faces – people are so happy in here!” says resident photographer Audrey Davidson.
“My husband and I found a new lease on life at Murray Gardens in our seventies and eighties and so have many other people.”
Audrey has seen this firsthand, having founded the Murray Gardens Day Trippers in 2010 and coordinated over 30 trips to nearby attractions and landmarks in the years since.
The fun-loving and adventurous group is a great representation of the entire community at Murray Gardens, down to their willingness to get involved and have a bit of a laugh.
“On one cold and rainy day, I conned some of our regular Day Trippers into stripping down to their swimmers for a ‘nudie’ calendar,” Audrey explains.
“They cursed me for it, but it was worth it – if you don’t have a sense of humour, you’ve got nothing!”
The photo earned Murray Gardens the top spot and $1,500 in prize money to spend on village amenities that the community can enjoy together.
Second and third place respectively went to The Laurels in Mount Barker, South Australia and Newling Gardens in Armidale, New South Wales with two wonderful photos of favourite village locations.
Wood Glen on the NSW Central Coast also beat out the other 27 villages to win the Facebook’s Most Popular award with a mind-bending photo that has confused audiences across Australia.
“My children used to do it as youngsters and I just had a vision!” says Joan Dominguez, the mastermind behind the idea.
“We spent a very hilarious hour trying to take the photo of Jim and Ruth with all the people playing bridge laughing their heads off at us.”
“I didn’t tell anyone that it was two people, just that Jim was a very fit and flexible retiree having a wonderful time now that he’s living at Wood Glen!”
There’s no doubt that the diversity and creativity of all the photos submitted reflects the individuality of RetireAustralia residents and the many reasons they have to love retirement living.
Visit RetireAustralia’s Facebook page to view all the competition entries!
Wood Glen – Erina, NSW
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