Best activities for people over 50 in Victoria!

What do you do when you suddenly have all the free time in the world? You use it! Victoria is full of things to see, do, eat, drink, and explore. And you know what’s better than going to the Museum on a Saturday? Going midweek when you don’t have to battle crowds. Let’s dive into some of the best activities Victoria has to offer.

Fun runs or walks
Victoria has plenty of these bad boys and they’re not only good to keep you active, you can also help raise some funds. At Lifestyle Community, we joined up for the Mother’s Day Classic with the largest number of attendees and donations, making a difference by bringing communities together. Doing good makes you feel good! You can choose a challenge, or choose a charity, and train up. There’s a run for everyone, from the Memory Walk and Jog raising money for dementia research, to the Colour Runs, where you can walk, run, jump, or skip your way through an explosion of coloured powder just for fun.

Join a sports club
Batter up! Join a sports club in the sporting capital of Australia. It’s a great way to stay active and meet people with similar interests. You could hit the ground running with a walking club, fall in 30-Love with tennis, stretch your talent in yoga and pilates or become a competitive croquet champion. Plus, living in a Lifestyle Community, you can train up in secret using the community sporting spaces and blow the competition out of the park. Olympics, here you come!

Pub crawl with the ladies and gents
Good drinks, great friends, and lots of laughter; what more could you want from retirement? Rally the troops and head off for a drink. Go and pop bubbles on the Yarra whilst you sail, or splash out on a winery tour to keep things fancy in Yarra Valley. Not your style? Then keep it casual and plan a route of your favorite local pubs. There’s nothing quite like a bit of sunshine, a beer garden, and a cocktail with a little umbrella in it at 2pm. Bottoms up!

Take a self defense or martial arts class
Kicking butt doesn’t have an age limit. Martial arts classes are a perfect mix of sport and skill; you get to learn something new, tone up, and show off your roundhouse kicks on demand - hi-yah! It’s a great head-to-toe cardio workout that improves coordination and builds muscle without needing to lift any weights. Martial arts are also good for keeping mentally sharp, as the discipline and reflexive routines help train your brain, and because martial arts combine aspects of meditation, mindfulness, and concentration. How’s that for a well-rounded exercise routine?

Take a hike
Victoria has some incredible nature, so get out there and see something beautiful. From pink lakes, gorges, mountain paths, beach trails, whatever kind of nature you want, you can find and explore. Say hello to koalas in the koala capital of Australia, Kennett River, or on the easy walking trials of Warrandyte State Park. Or get some sea breeze in along the Point Nepean walk as you explore the tip of the Mornington Peninsula, or walk the Geelong foreshore and check out the bollard art.

Hit the comedy scene
Aussies love a laugh, so there’s no shortage of comedy clubs and stand up comedians around Victoria. Hit the stand up circuit to have a drink, have a giggle, and have a good night away from the screens.

Look for love
If you’re single and ready to mingle, you can start looking for love in all the right places. Whether you feel like swiping on the dating apps, trying out an in-person speed dating session, or working up the nerve to ask that person at the tennis club out for a coffee, love could be one carefully planned pick up line away. Our personal favorite: “Hey wanna downsize with me sometime?”

Enjoy resort life in a Lifestyle Community
This one is a babushka doll suggestion, because it’s activities inside of activities! Take advantage of the resort lifestyle when you live in a Lifestyle Community. With no shortage of activities and amenities to enjoy, you can practice your underwater handstands in the pool, catch a classic in the cinema, or join in on the Social Club’s ongoing activities.

Get crafty

If you’re feeling arty, get stuck into some crafting. Maybe you want to reenact the clay scene from Ghost with a pottery class, or try your hand (and lungs) with a glass blowing course, or maybe you want to put those piles of family photos to use and get scrapbooking. We also have quilting and craft clubs or a power tool hatch on offer – whatever you choose, getting messy and creative is good for the soul. The novelty of saying “thanks, I made it!” when someone compliments your work will never get old.

Soak up the culture
They don’t call us the culture capital of Australia for nothing! Victoria is chock full of theater, museums, and exhibitions; there’s always something happening. Take advantage of matinee prices and catch the latest show stopping musicals in the city, or dive into the local theater scene and discover your electrician is actually a very talented tap dancer. With over 150 museums in the state, you’ll never run out of history to explore, whether you want a slice of the Cheese World Museum in Allansford, or want to hang ten at the National Surfing Museum in Torquay.

Rock out with live music

From full on concerts at Rod Laver to country gigs where you can tear up the pub dance floor with your sweet moves, get into the music scene! Music causes our brains to unleash a flood of dopamine and endorphins, which means you actually can buy happiness; it just comes in the form of a concert ticket. Whether you’re into classic music or heavy metal, the Victorian music scene has something for you.

Take a cooking class
We know your lasagna is the best in the business, but with a melting pot of cultures in Victoria, you can probably find a cooking class for a cuisine you haven’t tried before. Try your hand at East African cooking in Bentleigh East, a Vietnamese masterclass in Abbotsford, or learn how to make perfect pasta from scratch in Geelong. Molto bene!

Road trip, baby!
Take the scenic route and hit the road. Victoria has heaps of drive routes that will make the journey just as great as the destination. Put the windows down, feel the wind in your hair, and slip slop slap on some sunscreen to head down the iconic Great Ocean Road for the day, or make it an overnighter as you explore the coast. Prefer trees over seas? Never fear, Victoria has that too! Black Spur Drive, best done from Lilydale to Marysville, will have you driving under Jurassic Park-esque towering gums and fog covered ferns that look like a velociraptor would be right at home in.

Try a Laughing Club
Hahaha…no, seriously! Laughing Clubs are a group of people who get together and laugh. It can also be called Laughter Yoga, and is a playful program of activities involving prolonged forced laughter. Bear with us here: it’s based on the belief that voluntary laughter actually provides similar physiological and psychological benefits as spontaneous laughter. It’s usually done in groups, with lots of eye contact and silly acts of playfulness between the group members. You’ll go from fake laughs to real belly laughs quickly with exercises designed to connect and de-stress, like having to sing in a fake choir together where the only words are “ha ha ha”, or having to fake a phone conversation entirely with laughs. Chaos. Beautiful, hilarious, mood-lifting chaos.

Become a green thumb
Community gardens, veggie patches, sunflowers soaring above the garden. Get down and dirty with some soil and seeds in the city where your lucky plants will get every kind of weather in one day. Best garden in the neighborhood? Don’t mind if we do!

Do an escape room
Grab a group of friends or a partner and channel your inner Sherlock Holmes in these mystery solving experiences. To escape, you'll need to work as a team to solve a series of clues and puzzles around the room. The games vary in difficulty and theme, so every time is a different kind of challenge. BYO deerstalker.

Cycling

Ah, the wind on your hair, the sun on your face, the lycra literally everywhere else; it’s no wonder cycling is such a popular activity with retirees. Apart from being a great way to stay physically active, it’s an environmentally happy option, and a speedy mode of transport for adventures. Perfect as either a solo activity or to do as part of a cycling group, we promise you’ll have a wheely good time on a bike!

Volunteer

Did you know that 31% of volunteers in Australia are retirees? If you like the idea of volunteering but are unsure what to volunteer for, write a list of interests that you have, or causes you sympathize with, to help narrow it down. Got a soft spot for cats? A rescue center might be a great way to give back. Spent your whole life learning about Australian history? Maybe there’s a volunteer tour guide position calling your name. Just want to find a way of giving back where you’re making a difference in people’s lives? Help out at a soup kitchen.

If you’re ready to enjoy the benefits of a bigger life, we’d love to talk to you about how downsizing to a Lifestyle Community can help elevate your retirement lifestyle. With perfectly positioned communities for every kind of person, and full of amenities and activities, we know we can help you find your perfect match.