{"id":5224,"date":"2026-02-20T00:51:52","date_gmt":"2026-02-20T00:51:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.villages.com.au\/?p=5224"},"modified":"2026-02-20T00:55:41","modified_gmt":"2026-02-20T00:55:41","slug":"will-you-do-this-in-your-80s-residents-embrace-adventures-and-fun","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.villages.com.au\/retirement\/will-you-do-this-in-your-80s-residents-embrace-adventures-and-fun\/","title":{"rendered":"Will you do this in your 80s? Residents embrace adventures and fun"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"5224\" class=\"elementor elementor-5224\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-4f9169b elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"4f9169b\" 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-04c910c\" data-id=\"04c910c\" 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-1f57d6b elementor-drop-cap-yes elementor-drop-cap-view-stacked elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"1f57d6b\" 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>R<strong>etirement living should be fun surely for both Village Managers and the residents?<\/strong><\/p><p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theweeklysource.com.au\/scape-moving-to-acquire-aveo-is-good-news-here-is-why\/\">Aveo<\/a>\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.villages.com.au\/nsw\/northern-beaches\/bayview-gardens-retirement-living-3885\">Bayview Gardens Retirement Village<\/a> Community Manager Mel Akehurst has hardly had a minute to sit down, since challenging her residents to live their best life after listening to Marcus Pearce at a DCM Institute VILLAGE SUMMIT last year.<\/p><p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.villages.com.au\/\">Villages.com.au<\/a> reported about the residents in November last year: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.villages.com.au\/blog\/retirement\/living-their-best-life-village-residents-go-indoor-skydiving\/\">Living their best life \u2013 village residents go indoor skydiving.<\/a><\/p><p>Now 14 residents from Bayview Gardens, aged 70 to 84, went with Mel and Aveo Chief Executive Officer Tony Randello to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sport.nsw.gov.au\/penrithwhitewater\">Penrith Whitewater Stadium<\/a> 84km away.<\/p><p>With helmets on and paddles in hand, laughter and nerves broke out as they braved the cascades together.<\/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-0ef4845 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"0ef4845\" 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-a747c8a\" data-id=\"a747c8a\" 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-5cf9ed0 elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"5cf9ed0\" 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=\"1024\" height=\"688\" src=\"https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Picture19-1024x688.png\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-image-5227\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Picture19-1024x688.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Picture19-300x202.png 300w, https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Picture19-768x516.png 768w, https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Picture19-600x403.png 600w, https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Picture19-585x393.png 585w, https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Picture19.png 1052w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/>\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-3d0ce2c elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"3d0ce2c\" 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-76d0264\" data-id=\"76d0264\" 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-448b8aa elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"448b8aa\" 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>Bayview Gardens resident and now avid adventurer, Garry Leyshon, is determined to rewrite what retirement looks like.<\/p><p>\u201cWe are all so exhilarated by these experiences that we continue to talk about them with other residents and friends, which builds momentum and inspires others to participate in the next activity,\u201d Garry said.<\/p><p>\u201cI was a little apprehensive about doing the skydiving, however Jill and I were excited and absolutely looking forward to the whitewater rafting with great confidence. We both loved it and thought it was an incredible experience.<\/p><p>\u201cOur family is very supportive, however our friends living outside the village are surprised and probably would not consider doing it. I think that\u2019s because they haven\u2019t been encouraged to participate in activities that are a little out of the ordinary for our age group.<\/p><p>\u201cMoving to Bayview Gardens has been one of the best decisions we\u2019ve made. Our home is very comfortable, we are close to the shops and beaches, but above all we are trying new experiences and having a lot of fun while doing it with other like-minded residents.\u201d<\/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-c9fa5e3 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"c9fa5e3\" 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-9ddece4\" data-id=\"9ddece4\" 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-3df4150 elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"3df4150\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"688\" src=\"https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Picture20-1024x688.png\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-image-5228\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Picture20-1024x688.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Picture20-300x202.png 300w, https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Picture20-768x516.png 768w, https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Picture20-600x403.png 600w, https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Picture20-585x393.png 585w, https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Picture20.png 1052w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/>\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-407d8ff elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"407d8ff\" 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-c1c9735\" data-id=\"c1c9735\" 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-dd8ab44 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"dd8ab44\" 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>Mel added \u201cmaintaining a strong sense of community at Bayview Gardens was vital for the health and wellbeing of older Australians\u201d.<\/p><p>\u201cSocial isolation is top of mind for retirees, so if we can encourage our residents to get out there, have a great time with like-minded people and build stronger friendships, then that is our job done,\u201d she said.<\/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-580f2d9 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"580f2d9\" 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-2582340\" data-id=\"2582340\" 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-bf10b7f elementor-button-success elementor-align-center elementor-widget elementor-widget-button\" data-id=\"bf10b7f\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"button.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-button-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t<a class=\"elementor-button elementor-button-link elementor-size-lg\" href=\"https:\/\/thedcmgroup.createsend1.com\/t\/y-e-atyoz-l-w\/\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-button-content-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-button-text\">Return to Newsletter<\/span>\n\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\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>Retirement living should be fun surely for both Village Managers and the residents? Aveo\u2019s Bayview Gardens Retirement Village Community Manager Mel Akehurst has hardly had a minute to sit down, since challenging her residents to live their best life after listening to Marcus Pearce at&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5225,"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-5224","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\/5224","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=5224"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5224\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5231,"href":"https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5224\/revisions\/5231"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5225"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5224"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5224"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5224"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}