Emerald Lakes

To celebrate the sellout success of Seachange Lifestyle Resorts Emerald Lakes, we have put together the following video showcasing progress from it’s inception to completion.

There is something magical about walking through streets where rows of houses are all glowing with Christmas celebrations. Both Seachange Emerald Lakes and Arundel communities are filled with stunning Christmas lights which twinkle and sparkle making it easy to see the magic of Christmas and the warmth of the holiday spirit amongst all residents.  When it comes to holiday festivities, decorations and good cheer the residents unite, don’t hold back and certainly don’t disappoint.

“It’s all a bit of fun.  The resident’s homes with displays and decorations are without a doubt a fantastic way to bring people together and celebrate the festive season, according to Seachange Arundel resident Nadine Swanney.”

Many resident’s family and friends from both communities joined together, over the weekend to celebrate and recognise the winners for the house light decorations.  Whilst some residents get into decorating more than others everyone is on board.  Clearly the residents were all so impressed with such a variety of displays ranging from contemporary to traditional lighting all highlighting the festive time of Christmas.  According to Seachange Lifestyle Resort’s CEO Phil Goodman, “it simply just gets better and bigger each year.”

Community Christmas Celebrations

It is wonderful to see the greater Seachange community embrace the Christmas spirit through such fabulous light displays and congratulations to the winners for spreading good cheer with their festive displays.  For the second year running Rob and Nadine Swanney from Arundel took out first prize with Emerald Lakes resident Yvonne Cole-Davidson claiming the coveted People’s Choice award for the second year running as well.

Arundel festivities went off with a bang, Santa and Mrs Clause made an appearance as well as Mr Balloon Man who lit up the Children’s smiles. The Seachange Songbirds also performed to the delight of resident’s and their families and friends. The resident’s choir performance at Emerald Lakes filled the room with laughter and cheer with their very witty and clever rendition of the 12 Days of Christmas at Seachange.

Thank you to everyone who took part in the Christmas lights competition and we wish everyone a very merry Christmas and look forward to a ‘bright’ 2017.

And the Winners are:

 

EMERALD LAKES:

People’s Choice: Lot 120 – Yvonne Cole-Davidson

Most Traditional: Lot 116 – Val and Harry Leftwich
Most Artistic: Lot 117 – Ray and Sarah Gibson

 

Alison and Rob and Narelle and Leo.

Community Manager Di (center) with Richard and Michelle.

The Christmas feast!

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Yum!

The Seachange Emerald Lakes Country Club Christmas Tree

Stuart, Sue, John, Ray, Helen and Sarah.

Emerald Lakes residents enjoying a festive drink!

Seachange Lifestyle Resort residents at both Arundel and Emerald Lakes are putting the ‘Griswalds’ to shame with a dazzling display of Christmas lights lighting up the neighbourhoods, with all residents feeling the spirit of Christmas.

It is purely and simply magical to see street after street twinkling and shining with such animated lights.  The community within Arundel turned on their lights on the 27^th November with such excitement. ‘The Songbirds’ choir were singing the goodies and the old time favourite Christmas Carols and around the streets bell ringers were contributing to the festivities.  Streets were blocked off to cater to the various street parties where kids frolicked, sausages sizzled and corks popped!

Emerald Lakes turned their lights on the first weekend in December.  Clearly the spirit of Christmas is evident within the Seachange Community at Emerald Lakes.  Last year’s winner Yvonne Cole-Davidson says, “there is always room for lights at Christmas and it is lights that enable me to share my love of Christmas.”  Residents at Emerald Lakes have well and truly found their Christmas spirit, through not only decorating their homes but also their buggies as well, creating such a festive atmosphere full of joy and good cheer.

Every year the number of homes decorated increase as does the decorating of houses and streets making the greater Seachange Community come to life with all residents living it large after dusk.  “Seachange is a very close knit community so it is important to do all we can to celebrate and enjoy the Christmas festivities together,” according to Arundel resident Dorothy Nies.

Nestled at the end of the magnificent and picturesque clubhouse at Seachange Emerald Lakes is a newly created community garden.  This garden is in every sense of the word a community oriented garden! Only established for two months this garden has already seen residents come together to grow food and further grow an already close-knit community.

“Community Gardens are proven to be incredibly beneficial for the people who involve themselves,” according to resident Ian Nelson. Ian, with the help of Kervan Tinsley and Michael Moot collectively played an integral role in establishing this garden. Clearly, these garden ‘gurus’ are ably assisted by the residents whom take pride in ensuring that this community garden is self-sufficient developed by the residents for the residents.

This garden has created considerable interest amongst the residents with many volunteering watering duties, some donating time, plants, trees and money. Comprised within this garden are a variety of citrus trees, vegetables, fruit and herbs and even some local native wildlife have shown curiosity. The garden also has some fabulous decor and features that complement the different produce and its scenic surrounds.

The intention of this garden according to Community Manager, Di Whybrow is to “promote the residents’ health and active lifestyle whilst providing a venue for proactive exercise and social interaction – gardening and growing is good for us all.”

 

Ian Nelson and Kervan Tinsley at the community garden entrance arbor.

Kervan, Ian and Community Manager Di in the herb garden.

 

Ian and Kervan discussing the citrus trees.

“For men and women alike, this journey is the trajectory between birth and death, a human life lived. No one escapes the adventure. We only work with it differently.”-Jon Kabat-Zinn

The University of Queensland has affiliated with Seachange Lifestyle Resorts to present the Ageing Mind Initiative. A series of short courses, the latest presentation at Seachange Arundel on Monday 7^th November was on the fundamentals of mindfulness.

UQ Honours Psychology student Joel gave an enlightening short course presentation on the basic principals of mindfulness, how our residents can practice mindfulness on a daily basis, the benefits of being mindful and some handy tips and tricks to get us through our daily activities in a peaceful way.

Joel taught us that mindfulness is about placing focus and attention on your here and now, facing life with openness, interest and receptiveness. Mindfulness is about experiencing the moment and your surrounds in an accepting and non-judgmental way. This practice allows us to experience emotions and teaches us how to better understand them, while the consistent breathing exercises helps to settle our heart and relax our body.

Presenting to a full room, Joel captivated the audience with the numerous exercises, helping to get each and every resident to be present and mindful throughout the course. Some Arundel residents amazed Joel on their current understanding of mindfulness and the different ways they practice it. One resident spoke of his colour imagination exercise and another resident discussed the notion of re-packaging an ancient concept and making it accessible to the now.

We all lead busy lives, especially the residents at Seachange Arundel. Busy keeping an active mind, body and soul, Arundel residents fill their days with physical, social and educational activities. Joel gave us some wonderful tips and tricks to help practice mindfulness on a daily basis. Some of these helpful ideas taught us how to practice mindfulness while washing up the dishes, walking and cooking.

Finishing up the short course, we were all present in the room and enjoying the moment for what it was. Tea and biscuits and a quick chat with Joel after the morning course helped put everyone in a delightful mood ready to take on whatever the day had in store.

More than 100 golfers of all skill levels and expertise from both Seachange Emerald Lakes and Arundel teed up in teams to compete at the immaculate Emerald Lakes Golf Course. Perfect sunny Gold Coast weather, the day forced all golfers to find their ‘A’ game in order to be competitive!

All golfers in their team colours came together for the third annual Seachange Emerald Lakes Golf Day and awards dinner on Wedndesday 19th October. This golf tournament is an opportunity for the Seachange greater community to come together for a social and spirited day of golf and for all to dig deep into their pockets raising money for the Fred Hollows Foundation.

Perfect Weather

The day started out with picture perfect golfing weather conditions. The golf buggies lined up in many rows and the various players arrived eager and ready for the friendly rivalry between Seachange Emerald Lakes players and Seachange Arundel players. Seachange Lifestyle Resort employees helped organise the day and played alongside residents and suppliers making a fun day with plenty of friendly competition.

Playing for ‘bragging rights’ and helping a good cause

Whilst amongst Seachange residents, this occasion was about playing for “bragging rights” this event certainly benefits a good charitable cause. It wasn’t long before the course was alive with the sounds of animated hoots and much laughter. However somewhere along the line strategy went out the window possibly after the first round of pre golf drinks, shouted by Seachange Lifestyle Resorts (or was that a strategy on the Seachange employee’s team’s behalf?) With many thirsty golfers during the golfing day, this friendly match erupted into a healthy competition on the greens where the teams were playing and going to extremes to claim the coveted trophy.

And the winner is…

Seachange Emerald Lakes claimed for the first time both its golf bragging rights and the coveted championship trophy by a mere 15 points, a win is a win! Entering the friendly golf tournament Emerald Lakes was seen as the underdog. Elaine Clout, a keen golfer from Seachange Emerald Lakes had a very clear game play in her sights – “hit and hope.” Whereas Greg Davis from Seachange Arundel oozed confidence in stating his strategy was “shutty eyes and hit the ball.”

Resident tournament organisers from Seachange Sue Absell-Hagan (Emerald Lakes) and Bob Parmenter (Arundel) in conjunction with the Seachange Community Managers Tony and Di are to be commended for organising and hosting such a fun successful day both on and off the green. Whilst Emerald Lakes holds on tight to their magnificent trophy and the bragging rights that go along with it, no doubt the Fred Hollows Foundation was the big winner of this day with the third annual Seachange Golf Day raising $1,032 for the cause.

 

Seachange Arundel and Emerald Lakes residents Bob and Sue holding the trophy with Seachange Lifestyle Resort CEO Phil Goodman

Ready to play!

Seachange Arundel Community Manager Tony collecting donations for Fred Hollows

Seachange Lifestyle Resort Emerald Lakes the lucky winner