Before moving to Carlyle Gardens, Roy Markwell and his wife, Genevieve, spent 11 years in a caravan driving around Australia. While touring the country, they would meet up with friends living at Carlyle Gardens, and decided to make the move here nearly 10 years ago.
“We wore out a couple of caravans,” Roy laughs. “We decided we had to settle down somewhere and this looked like the perfect place.”
He and Genevieve were attracted by the lifestyle and Roy says retirement agrees with him. “I don’t have to do any work. I don’t have to mow the lawns. It’s just a nice relaxed lifestyle.”
In between playing 18 holes of golf three days a week, Roy finds time to be the President of the Social Activities Committee. As well as organising the recent Mother’s Day high tea, Roy and the committee organise a monthly sausage sizzle and get-together in the community centre, which attracts up to 150 people. They also have a monthly birthday bash to celebrate residents’ birthdays, and are busy getting ready for Christmas in July, where guests will enjoy spit roast beef, pork and all the trimmings.
For Roy, the best part of retirement is “having more time to spend with your missus. Carlyle is just like an ordinary suburb. We’re not jammed in or crammed tight.” Roy enjoys the fact the village doesn’t have fences and loves the gardening he now has time to do. “I like to sit back here and have a look at all the flowers growing. I don’t think I could be anywhere else.”
As for whether he and Genevieve have more touring on the horizon, Roy says they only go five star these days. In fact, they have a cruise to New Zealand coming up in November – but, according to Roy, the cruise ship “is just a bigger caravan!”
For more information about Carlyle Gardens, click here.
