A village was not really on our mind but this looked so good we decided to come up and have a look. It turned out to be just like the model - really green, very relaxing and pleasant. Since we moved here we have found it the perfect ambiance for us.
"It has been the most easy and natural transition, just three months from conception to being here - really fast. It's proving to be really successful in lots of ways. We had been thinking of moving out of Sydney for some time. The neighbourhood atmosphere in Carlingford had changed over the past few years, with neighbours and friends moving away, and people going about their own business. We decided we needed a change in scenery. We looked at the Blue Mountains because we had friends up there. We thought we would build a new home for ourselves, and considered a block of land at Blackheath, but after being up there we came to feel that the mountains is a little bit old and a little bit sad. This was not us."
"Then we went to the Retirement Expo in Sydney and saw the huge model of this place, Greenleaf Wyee Point. We couldn't get over all the trees they had on the model and the fact that it was on the water at Lake Macquarie. A village was not really on our mind but this looked so good we decided to come up and have a look. It turned out to be just like the model - really green, very relaxing and pleasant. Since we moved here we have found it the perfect ambiance for us."
"Then the race was on. We thought it would take six months to sell our home, but it took just three days. Maybe we didn't ask enough, but we got what we thought was the right price and suddenly it was gone. We built it 40 years ago and it held a lot of memories and I howled my eyes out as we drove down the drive, but in truth we have never looked back. The transition of all our gear into this home, of course, has made it easier. We have three bedrooms, but we use one as our ‘play room' - I have been involved with the performing arts most of my life, with Musica Viva and Roger Woodward's New Music Festival. I was also a singing member of the Sydney Philharmonic, so I have my grandmother's beautiful piano in one corner and I can now practice my cello, which I have taken up at long last since coming here. I am enrolling as a mature age student at the Conservatorium up in Newcastle when we get time to venture up there. Warren had his own screen printing business and now he is absorbed in making videos, so he has his setup as well. He has the time. We hadn't factored into the move here that its maintenance free - everything around the house is done for you. You can't wipe the smile off Warren's face, the fact that he doesn't have to mow the backyard anymore."
"We are also sailors from way back; we love the water, so being on the lake we are looking at kayaks to allow us to get out and explore. But these things take time and since we have been here it's been very commodious, with people over for lunch and people to stay. Our friends from the Blue Mountains have been very agreeably surprised and are thinking of the move themselves. I have also been to Sydney four times in three weeks. It's very easy and the road is fabulous from our doorstep - it's as comfortable as all get out for me to meet friends for coffee at Wahroonga."
"All in all, it's been an easy and natural transition."
