Attracted by the ambience, engaged by the community

Robert Gogerly moved to The Mornington Retirement Village nine months ago because he loved the ambience and found the community very friendly. But it didn’t take long for Robert to discover life at The Mornington had much more on offer than he knew before moving in.

Robert chose to live in the Shearwater Serviced Apartments rather than a villa because he was interested in having the luxury and convenience of chef-prepared meals.

With regular table tennis and 8 ball pool sessions keeping him active, and the opportunity to bring ideas forward for new activities, Robert has invested himself in The Mornington lifestyle, and his social calendar is now full.

“I’m very happy here. The atmosphere is very friendly, and staff always welcome new ideas from the residents,” Robert said.

“I made a suggestion to some residents that we organise a mock trial and I have 20 people who are interested!”

The mock trial, essentially an amateur theatre performance, will involve a little acting and a whole lot of fun for participants and the expected crowd.

A love of new experiences

Robert began his career as an accountant at a ceramic glazing company in Melbourne, eventually working his way up to the position of CEO.

He retired in 2007 and lived in a house in Dingley, a suburb of Melbourne, for 25 years before moving to The Mornington.

With a love of entertainment, Robert participated in a theatre group in Dingley and performed in several stage plays the group put on to support charities.

He has also dabbled in travel journalism, recording videos about travelling in Europe, Egypt, Italy and Greece - which were recently screened for residents at The Mornington to enjoy.

Born in Sri Lanka in 1938, Robert has many stories to share and even wrote a book about his life, which was published during the COVID-19 lockdowns.

“It was quite an amazing environment in which I was brought up because there were so many races and religions and when I was at school we never had a situation where people got offended because whenever a religion had a celebration we just all joined in and helped each other out,” he said.

That upbringing gave Robert a lifelong love of meeting different people, and his childhood activity of climbing the mountains around his home also developed into a love of hiking.

“I always love going to new places and seeing new people and experiencing different cultures,” Robert said.

His three daughters are spread across Queensland and Victoria, although one lives only 10 minutes away at Frankston.

He also has four grandchildren, three great grandchildren, a sister in Sri Lanka and a brother in Melbourne who he sees regularly.

Social connection has a big part in Robert’s life, and he often stops on walks around The Mornington to chat to neighbours in their gardens.

Learn more about The Mornington Retirement Living here.