Susan Walker doesn’t like to sit still for too long; she’s travelled the world, learned to fly and volunteered many thousands of hours to community causes, so how did Forster’s laid-back lifestyle capture her adventurous heart?
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“I lived in a few different places before I arrived here, but my family has had a long-term relationship with Forster, so it has always been in my mind,” Susan explained.
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“I grew up in eastern suburbs of Sydney, so I was always a beach person.
“My parents used to holiday here, we had a unit in Forster once, but family commitments came up in Sydney so they ended up moving back.”
Before her parents discovered the beautiful beaches and rolling hills of the Great Lakes, Susan’s grand parents would come for holidays in the 30s, pitching a tent, setting up the gramophone and throwing in a fishing line for weeks on end.
For Susan, the Great Lakes love took hold a little later in life, after she moved to the Blue Mountains to enjoy the peaceful serenity of nature.
“I had lots of friends there, I worked in the Leura Fine Woodwork Gallery for 12 years, that’s fine woodwork done by Australian artists.
“I did a lot of volunteer work with Community Transport while I was living there, and Meals on Wheels and the RFS where I volunteered in the radio room.”
Susan’s passion for community causes did not waver when she stopped to think about where she might like to settle long-term and settled on Forster.
“I just thought about it and it seemed sensible to come here,” she said.
“I knew mum and had dad really liked it in Forster, then a friend who had just bought a house here gave me his keys to spend a week here and see what I thought.”
For Susan, that first taste of life in the Great Lakes was all the convincing that was needed.
“I just love the Bullring, you can relax in there, it’s a real family area,” she said.
“I looked up and down the coast, but I loved it here, you need that big safe ocean pool.
“So then I sold my place and moved in here four years ago.
“I now volunteer with the local branches of Community Transport and Meals on Wheels, I just believe volunteering is the essence of the community, you meet such happy people who are helping other people and keeping the community ticking along.
“Forster is great, I am very happy here, I really don’t see myself moving away now.”