You may know Peter Aulbury as an active member of the Rotary Club, you may know him as the tech whiz behind the Men’s Shed Facebook page, or you may know him as something else.
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Any of these are fine, but if you don’t know him at all, that’s a big old shame for you, because one title not up for debate is ‘a true blue good ol’ Aussie bloke’.
With many feathers in his proverbial cap and an open, friendly demeanor, there is one big mystery to be solved when it comes to Peter; what is he doing here?
“I had a very busy career, I worked as a valuer in Sydney, then I got married, had a baby, and it was time to leave the big smoke behind,” Peter said.
“We moved to Bulahdelah and worked the family farm for a while, but my wife and I decided we wanted to do our own thing.”
“In 1992 moved to Forster and bought a valuation business. We had a little office in Forster Tower, and we did that for over 20 years.
“We just arrived, and within a week we had a house, a business, had moved the kids into a local school, and settled right in. That was that.”
A couple of years ago, Peter undertook a new challenge; retirement. After a busy hands on life, he found the lifestyle change difficult to swallow.
“Coming to terms with retirement was quite difficult. To wrap my head around it, I travelled to Spain and walking the Camino de Santiago, that gave me time to think.”
This think time stroll consisted of a 40-day trek across 800 kilomtres of Spain, solo, just casually.
“I used the trip as an opportunity to clear my head,” he said.
“I’m used to being the go-to-guy, and then being completely retired made me think about my mortality.”
When Peter returned to the Great Lakes, his future appeared before him, crystal clear, in the shape of a shed. The Wallis Lake Men’s Shed to be more specific.
“For me, coming to the Men’s Shed a couple of years ago has really filled a hole,” he said.
“It has been a great place for me to knock around with some good guys. I’m much happier and more balanced now, I have a good community connection and I enjoy getting involved.”
Peter also attributes his happiness here to the community feel of the Great Lakes that has drawn so many of us into its net.
“It’s got that feeling of being a city, and sleepy fishing village. It’s such a clean place.
“Driving over the bridge, when the tide is coming in, you just don’t get a better view of a waterway anywhere, and all the guests we have to stay actually say that.
“It’s a pretty place, a great place, I have good friends here.”
