As hospitality and lifestyle manager at IRT Woodlands, Aura’s Janelle Robinson shared her love of painting kindness rocks with residents.
“I found a kindness rock hidden in Hervey Bay and I thought, this is such a good idea, and I brought rocks and paints into work and got the residents involved.”
Kindness rocks are small stones painted with uplifting messages, positive words, or cheerful designs that people hide in parks, trails, or other public places.
Kindness rocks spread joy and positivity, with finders often re-hiding them and sharing their locations on social media.
Ms Robinson set up a Facebook page, Aura Rocks, to keep track of the painted treasures she hides around the 4551 community, with some rocks being found as far afield as New South Wales.
“My residents are from a time when they wrote letters to people and it was fascinating enough for that letter to somehow arrive in another country,” she said.
“Their minds are blown when they paint these rocks and I show them a photo on the internet of a child finding them and enjoying them and re-hiding them.
“We don’t mind if you decide to keep the rock, but we love it if you still let us know you’ve found it.
“We recently had a rock we hid in the Aura Brook turn up at Sydney airport and then later on in Canungra – it gives our residents great joy to see where they travel.”
Locals like Natalie Dunstan and her daughter Kloee joined Aura Rocks 18 months ago and regularly paint, hide and share their rock discoveries across greater Caloundra.
“The majority of the painted rocks are done by Janelle and the people she works with but my friends, their families, and I have also gotten involved – we love it.”
Ms Robinson urged locals who found the rocks to post their discovery to Facebook to encourage others to keep crafting kindness rocks for the community.
“We might put 50 out at Kings Beach and the residents will be asking me if anyone found them,” she said.
“It is so nice when I can find a picture on my phone to show them that it was found and where it was found.”
Visit the Aura Rocks Facebook group by searching ‘Aura Rocks’ on Facebook or type https://www.facebook.com/groups/402209438230954 into your web browser’s address bar.
