Meet Chantelle. She loves animals, dancing, cooking – and will crack you up with her jokes.
It had been raining before I visited Chantelle at her Gellibrand shared accommodation, but the drizzle hadn’t stopped her fun. Chantelle’s known for her love of singing and dancing, and she said she’d just come in from singing in the rain.
“I went to Morning Melodies today,” she added. “It’s good exercise when you’re singing and dancing – and I like to boogie and shake at parties and discos.”
Harry Styles, Chris Brown, and Delta Goodrem are among the stars that get Chantelle moving on the dance floor and, as a Gellibrand client of 12 years, there have been plenty of chances to do just that at discos. She talked about the positive relationships she has with team members and all the good friends she’d made amongst Gellibrand clients, the latter of which love her cooking.
“They tell me to hurry up and cook up a storm,” she laughed, adding that she’d recently made a salmon and pasta bake with cheese on top. “But not too much.”
To help manage her weight, Chantelle said she’s working hard on eating healthily and exercising regularly, including doing Zumba. She loves being as independent as possible and she showed me her latest effort in that regard: an online driver safety questionnaire on which she’s aiming to get a 100% score.
“Then I can learn to drive,” she told me, adding that it was her dream to get around in a Jeep Wrangler.
The travel bug has definitely bitten Chantelle. After conquering her fear of heights and flying to Queensland for a short holiday earlier this year, she’s going to Adelaide for two weeks in December to visit relatives and explore the city. She showed me a photo on her phone of the hotel she’ll be staying in and said she was saving money to go shopping when she’s there.
On her Queensland holiday, she spent her last day at Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary on the Gold Coast. Not surprising, really, because Chantelle loves animals.
“I’ve looked after dogs, cats, guinea pigs, turtles, rabbits, and horses,” she said, adding that horses are her favourites. She had one as a little girl and was part of a Saddle Club. She now regularly spends time with horses at the National Equestrian Centre in Werribee.
“I do literacy too and I’ve got lots of books about pets and animals. And Harry Styles,” she laughed.
There’s no doubt Chantelle loves a laugh and she told me her latest joke.
“Why do chickens lay eggs? To crack them up!” she said and promptly cracked up herself. It’s very hard not to laugh along with Chantelle and her infectious giggle. She perhaps needs that sense of humour these days more than ever because her beloved Richmond are slipping down the ladder.
“I just watch them on TV, I don’t go to the games. But I swear sometimes when I watch them!” she said, adding that Dustin Martin and Jack Riewoldt were two of her favourite players ever. She doesn’t play footy herself, but she does get out onto the basketball court.
“I exercise whenever I can. I dance around the house with my headphones on!”
Wherever there’s laughter and dancing, that’s where you’ll find Chantelle.
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