A DISCUSSION OVER A MUTUAL LOVE OF DOGS WAS THE START OF A NEW ROMANCE FOR KYM POWELL AND MARK MCMURDO.
Both keen on fitness, schoolteacher Kym and machinist Mark – future GemLife Rainbow Beach residents – first saw each other while in the weights room of their local gym but it was a discussion about dogs that brought the two together.
“We started talking about my dog, then Mark mentioned that he was considering getting a chocolate Labrador and asked if I would help him select a puppy,” she said.
And what started as puppy play dates for Mark and Kym’s pets ended up as dates for their owners too.
“About a month afterwards, I left to go overseas for a friend’s wedding in Italy, so I asked Mark if he would house-sit while I was away, and we’ve been together ever since! It was definitely meant to be.”
That was 17 years ago, and the couple are now indulging in their love of travel while waiting for their home to be completed at GemLife Rainbow Beach.
“In fact, we just bought a caravan before we decided to check out GemLife,” said Kym. “I wish we had waited though because we could have gone travelling in the Explore by GemLife RVs.”
Their journey to GemLife Rainbow Beach has seen them venture further north over the years.
“Fourteen months after we got together, we decided to move out of Sydney. We bought a house in Port Stephens and that was part of our seven-year plan, then it got shortened to five years. We decided to look at over-50s lifestyle resorts sooner, rather than later, because we wanted the lifestyle.
“We drove up from Port Stephens to check out a few and got up as far at Lake Cathie and were about to turn back when we saw the banner for GemLife. Thinking about our seven-year plan, we thought we might wait until stage three before we bought, but Mark and I looked at one another and said to ourselves, ‘why on earth are we waiting?’ and we put down a deposit for the stage under construction.”
At this stage Kym and Mark don’t have any dogs to bring to GemLife Rainbow Beach but know that pets will always be welcome when the time comes.
Kym says the secret to their 17-year relationship is about exercising patience and having fun together and doing things together.
“It’s so very important to have a laugh together – laughing with each other and occasionally at each other. It’s about having a sense of joy.”