Gold Coast Australia - Paradise For The Aged

By Katarina Jellinek

The Gold Coast in South East Queensland Australia is famous as a tourist destination. Famous for its Beaches, Theme Parks and all the glitz and glamour associated with a fun, party type, holiday destination for all ages.  A less publicized feature on the Gold Coast - but well known to the locals is its attraction for the aged as permanent residents.  

Besides the temperate climate that brings relief to a lot of old age maladies such as Arthritis the developers have catered to the older generation more specifically than any other age group, when it comes to permanent residency. It is no accident that the proportion of old age residents is higher on the Gold Coast  than anywhere else in Australia. The area has been developed to be a paradise for the aged. Level walkways meandering through beach-side parks, wheelchair access to all shopping centers and restaurants and ample disability parking are just a few of the facilities built into the infrastructure.

Nursing homes, respite care centers and hospitals, both private and public are adequate to handle the aging population. The public hospital system is free. Shopping centers and the public transport system give good discounts to the aged. Entertainment centers that cater to the tourists have set up weekly free entertainment days for the aged including courtesy transport and meals. Bowls, bingo and free craft days are held on a regular basis in almost all suburbs.

To understand how this has come about, we have to delve a little into the development of the area in the years gone by. Without going into a detailed history of the  establishment of "Surfers Paradise" as the holiday destination for Australian and overseas visitors; I'll just say that a lot of people dreamed of retiring in this Paradise.

Land and property developers seized on the opportunity and targeted retirees to come and live on the Gold Coast as permanent residents. Retirees were the obvious choice as work opportunities where scarce. Therefore the original infrastructure that was developed was designed to attract and cater for the older generation. As more and more aged people settled in the area, work opportunities opened up to cater for the aged and the younger generation started to settle in.

Except for the hospitality and building trades, permanent work is still very hard to get, as so many people want to live in this great location permanently. Who can blame them; it's not hard to fall in love with the place. Pristine forests, unpolluted air, girted by the best beaches in the world and a mild climate all make for a very pleasant living environment. Couple this with a sophisticated metropolis atmosphere, alive with entertainment and you have a pretty exciting life style.

The only problem with taking a vacation on the Gold Coast is that you won't want to leave. I feel privileged to be a permanent resident here after fifty years of taking vacations - and like so many others having to leave this paradise until the next vacation. Now after living here for nine years I see the district from a local perspective. There is so much more to this area than the glitz and glamour portrayed by the tourist promotions. This truly is a paradise for the aged.

Take a virtual tour of the Gold Coast situated in South East Queensland Australia, presented by a local, for those who are looking to travel to this great destination.

© 2009 Katarina Jellinek, permission is granted to reprint this article in its entirety, including this copyright notice. http://www.gold-coast-aus.com

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