It’s safe to say that in the 30 years Claire Fletcher has been in the Great Lakes she has been well and truly won over by our little coastal community.
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But there was a time when she wasn’t certain that our sandy shores were for her.
Now the president of Club Forster and thoroughly embedded in the community, Claire once wasn’t so sure about moving from the big city.
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“Our family lived in Sydney, and I had a great job there that I loved,” she said.
“But then my husband got a job as general manager of Forster Tuncurry Memorial Services Club, and everything changed.
“I didn’t want a bar of it, I didn’t want to come here one bit.”
Luckily, a beautiful sunny day and our glistening waterways got the best of Claire one fateful weekend when she came to visit her husband.
“He had been up here for about six months,” she recalled.
I drove in up the Lakes Way, and came up to the bridge, and there it was, it was all just so beautiful.
- Claire Fletcher
“I came up for the weekend. I drove in up the Lakes Way, and came up to the bridge, and there it was, it was all just so beautiful.”
Claire was offered a job at Kmart, and finally made the big move. She stayed at that job for a few months before moving into a position with ANZ, and then on to Club Forster.
“Now I have a lovely home at One Mile, and wouldn't have it any other way,” she said.
“I love Sydney, but I wouldn’t go back, I couldn’t go back now.”
But winning Claire over was only half the battle. She still had three children in Sydney, and the next hurdle was convincing them to come along too.
“Eventually we got our son up here, he works at the Forster Bowling Club now,” she said.
“And our younger daughter is here too, she who works at the hospital.”
With just one child left in Sydney, Claire has high hopes of a Forster family reunion soon.
“She is still in Sydney because she has two kids at uni for another 12 months, but after that she’s excited to move up here,” she said.
Since relocating, Claire has thrown herself head first into her job and, to her own surprise, has picked up bowling.
“I never thought I would take up bowling,” she said.
“I did golf and tennis in Sydney, and when my husband suggested bowls I thought ‘no way’. But then I gave it a go and now I play all the time.”
Claire loves to keep busy, and is on the go all the time.
“I love my job, I love mixing with people and hearing their stories,” she said.
“I have a lovely home here, and a lovely life.”
