It’s International Friendship Day on July 30 and at Amber by Living Gems, the humble ukulele and the recently opened Country Club, with its five-star facilities for active over 50s, are bringing people together.
The Country Club features a snooker parlour and games room, heated swimming pool and spa, sauna, games rooms, ten-pin bowling alley, tennis court, and golf simulator. There’s also a bar and lounge, barbecue pavilion, conference room, and cinema with surround sound.
Homeowner Larry Clifford, who is a former army signals warrant officer and real estate agent, is loving the Country Club facilities and recently surprised himself by starting a ukelele group about four months ago – having never before played the instrument.
“A couple that live in the resort dropped in to see us, and they had a ukelele. After a few drinks they played a few songs and my wife Irene and I really liked it, so we thought we’d get one,” Larry recalled.
“I’d been learning guitar for about a year and a half, so we bought Irene one first and we looked up how to play it on YouTube, and then I went and bought one.
“Ukulele is for players of all ages and skill levels, so we thought, ‘let’s see if anyone else in the village is interested’. There’s now a solid group of eight of us now, meeting twice a week in the Country Club music room, where we learn all different aspects of how to play. We’ve now got a repertoire of about six or seven songs that we know reasonably well.”
Larry invited any resort residents interested to join in. They meet Wednesdays from 3pm to 4pm and Saturdays from 9am to 10am.
“What we love most about it is its simplicity, and it’s something that brings people together,” he said.
“We can bring new players in easily. We first give them a tutorial to learn some of the basics, and then after that they integrate very smoothly into the group, picking it up quite quickly.
“None of us in the group had played before, and after learning some of the basics from YouTube tutorials, it’s amazing how far we’ve advanced.”
Logan Village Primary School students recently dropped in for a visit, with their ukelele and strings ensembles, and choir performing for the residents.
“We were even more inspired after this and the principal asked us to go there and do some numbers for them,” Larry said. “We are also preparing to do a recital for the resort in October.”
Larry and Irene have been enjoying the resort lifestyle of Amber by Living Gems since June 2022.
“We get into the facilities and the social side of things as much as we can,” Larry said.
“We do aqua aerobics, ten-pin bowling, we both volunteer at the bar and I run the Facebook page for Happy Hour every week and do fortnightly card games.
“There’s not much we don’t do. Irene has had to go buy a diary because we now have a full social calendar, doing things every day!”
Bingo is about to be added to the list too on Wednesdays, after Larry found a volunteer coordinator through the Homeowners Committee (HOC).
