After decades of rehabilitating wildlife in Melbourne, Australia, Clive and Fay Gordes moved to French Island in Westport Bay. They resided there for 40 years, exploring and living amongst so much of the wildlife they had seen go extinct on the mainland.

But more recently, they retired back to the mainland and to Jeparit – a town with less than 500 residents which sits on the Wimmera River in Western Victoria, Australia

They are keen daily exercisers who take long walks along the river. But they haven’t given up on their environmentalism – Fay documents both the beauty of the wildlife and the changes in water levels with her camera.

And while, yes, this is a peek into their new home line-dancing routine, this fascinating couple is a story in their own right.

The pair is still recording the flora along the riverbed with the rises and falls of the water levels as well.

“Everyone notices the changes in water levels, that’s obvious and it’s wonderful to see the extra water in the river, but there’s so much more going on that you don’t see at a casual glance,” Clive told the local sustainability office in Wimmera. “It’s fascinating what remnant flora we’ve found around the river so far.”

They’ve even come across things they’ve never seen before after decades of conservation work!

“I’m finding a lot of plants I don’t know, and I’m finding some really rare things such as a mistletoe which is really common on French Island but it’s something we haven’t seen here before,” Clive reported.

It turns out Jeparit has been the perfect spot to slow down and watch nature – and because it’s so sparsely populated, it has been easy, at least logistically, to stay isolated during the novel coronavirus pandemic.

But the couple has still clearly been confined to their house for more time than they used to – we all have been. It’s just that these two active retirees have found a way to put their bodies and minds to work!

And that, friends, is where the line dancing comes in!

They started their YouTube channel back in mid-May and now 7 videos (and counting) show the progress they’ve made learning the dances.

We love these folks! And they have such fun with each other while they’re dancing and never take it too seriously.

In what they’ve labeled the “Official Darius Rucker line Dance” to country music star Dwight Yoakam’s “These Arms,” they still make a misstep every now and then, but they laugh it off.

Fay even waves to their audience (there have been over 13,000 views of this video so far!).

Dancing, laughing – we know these are some of the things we can do to help cure the COVID blues, but Clive and Fay are actually doing it AND putting themselves out there to show others they can do the same.

And there are a ton of line dancing instructional videos online to show folks how it’s done – seniors included. Not everyone has the mobility to master all the moves, but moving whatever you can is likely to be beneficial for both physical and mental health (and possible your relationship too!).

As you can see, if you treat yourself to more than one video, you can get some great views of the wardrobe they’ve managed to accumulate.

Any 90s kid will appreciate Fay’s shorts-and-tights combo (and, frankly, we now want some of those shorts). Clive is a little more sedate, though he did break out quite a shirt for their first YouTube foray!

We could all learn a lesson from the Gordes’, especially if we’re stuck inside and battling the fatigue that comes with isolation coupled with relentless bad news.

Heck, even if you do get out, you should give dancing a try! Don’t worry, you can do it like no one’s watching.

Clive and Fay, you’re an inspiration. Please keep dancing!

Everyone else, make sure you scroll down to see their video or click here for their whole channel.

Please SHARE this with your friends and family.

Source: Clive Gordes via YouTube, Wimmera CMA, ABC.au, Country Dancing Tonight