{"id":4757,"date":"2025-09-18T06:29:13","date_gmt":"2025-09-18T06:29:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.villages.com.au\/?p=4757"},"modified":"2025-09-18T06:30:00","modified_gmt":"2025-09-18T06:30:00","slug":"widow-rita-bourke-has-loved-life-in-a-retirement-village-for-two-decades","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.villages.com.au\/retirement\/widow-rita-bourke-has-loved-life-in-a-retirement-village-for-two-decades\/","title":{"rendered":"Widow Rita Bourke has loved life in a retirement village for two decades"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"4757\" class=\"elementor elementor-4757\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-ab57061 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"ab57061\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-cd44615\" data-id=\"cd44615\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-3880876 elementor-drop-cap-yes elementor-drop-cap-view-stacked elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"3880876\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-settings=\"{&quot;drop_cap&quot;:&quot;yes&quot;}\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<style>\/*! elementor - v3.15.0 - 20-08-2023 *\/\n.elementor-widget-text-editor.elementor-drop-cap-view-stacked .elementor-drop-cap{background-color:#69727d;color:#fff}.elementor-widget-text-editor.elementor-drop-cap-view-framed .elementor-drop-cap{color:#69727d;border:3px solid;background-color:transparent}.elementor-widget-text-editor:not(.elementor-drop-cap-view-default) .elementor-drop-cap{margin-top:8px}.elementor-widget-text-editor:not(.elementor-drop-cap-view-default) .elementor-drop-cap-letter{width:1em;height:1em}.elementor-widget-text-editor .elementor-drop-cap{float:left;text-align:center;line-height:1;font-size:50px}.elementor-widget-text-editor .elementor-drop-cap-letter{display:inline-block}<\/style>\t\t\t\t<p>J<strong>oining in the festivities to mark Bolton Clarke Bribie Cove retirement village&#8217;s 20<sup>th<\/sup> anniversary on Bribie Island in Queensland&#8217;s Moreton Bay, was one of its first residents.<\/strong><\/p><p>The local community turned out in force to join the celebration on 13 September, which included vintage car clubs, a petting zoo, dancing and family fun and birthday cakes.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-260eab6 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"260eab6\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-65a191d\" data-id=\"65a191d\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-ac63f8a elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"ac63f8a\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<style>\/*! elementor - v3.15.0 - 20-08-2023 *\/\n.elementor-widget-image{text-align:center}.elementor-widget-image a{display:inline-block}.elementor-widget-image a img[src$=\".svg\"]{width:48px}.elementor-widget-image img{vertical-align:middle;display:inline-block}<\/style>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"451\" height=\"338\" src=\"https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Picture5-1.jpg\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-image-4760\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Picture5-1.jpg 451w, https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Picture5-1-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 451px) 100vw, 451px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-c2270f8 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"c2270f8\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-abe1c0a\" data-id=\"abe1c0a\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-899ab72 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"899ab72\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>\u201cI was a widow when I moved here so was on my own, but I still wanted to get about and do some travelling. I found having a house and all the maintenance and general upkeep was more than I particularly wanted to do,\u201d Rita said.<\/p><p>\u201cI originally just wanted an apartment, so I didn\u2019t have the worries of a freestanding home, and I looked at apartments from Hervey Bay right through to Brisbane.<\/p><p>\u201cI wasn\u2019t happy with any that I looked at but when I walked into what is now my villa here at Bribie Cove, I thought this is just perfect.&#8221;<\/p><p>\u00a0The close proximity of the village to doctors, banks and local shopping centres as well as having the ocean right around the corner all added to the appeal for Rita.<\/p><p>\u00a0\u201cIt was my first venture into living in close proximity to neighbours, but the early residents were a very active group and we soon made firm friendships,\u201d she said.<\/p><p>\u00a0\u201cI have never regretted coming here because it\u2019s been a good place for me to be and has continued to suit me even now as I\u2019m losing my sight because in the time I\u2019ve been here, I now know where everything is.<\/p><p>\u00a0\u201cIt\u2019s been a feeling of security that we know there is residential aged care here but if anything goes wrong, you know that\u2019s the next step in our lives.<\/p><p>\u00a0\u201cIt\u2019s interesting too because we have all come from very diverse backgrounds and being a part of the village has brought us together.\u00a0<\/p><p>\u201cI always said that I\u2019d go somewhere when I turned 70 and then I wasn\u2019t going to move again, and it\u2019s proved a very, very good decision.\u201d<\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Joining in the festivities to mark Bolton Clarke Bribie Cove retirement village&#8217;s 20th anniversary on Bribie Island in Queensland&#8217;s Moreton Bay, was one of its first residents. The local community turned out in force to join the celebration on 13 September, which included vintage car&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4758,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[70],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4757","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-retirement"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4757","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4757"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4757\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4763,"href":"https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4757\/revisions\/4763"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4758"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4757"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4757"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4757"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}