FEBRUARY 2018 | Hayley Manning

THE GRENOCH dining room was filled to capacity on 30th January for the official opening of the 33,600 piece Wildlife puzzle, which held the title for World’s Largest Puzzle, when Educa released it in 2014.

The Kanangra Puzzlers team: Alan, Bessy, Betty, Cob, and Kevin, completed the puzzle in just over 20 months and may hold the title for the largest puzzle to be completed by aged care residents in Australia.

The 17kg, Adrian Chesterman designed Wildlife puzzle, depicting colourful African jungle animals and waterfalls, came in a large wooden box on castor wheels and was packaged into ten individual bags that allowed each team member to work on a panel at their own pace.

Alan Adams, who completed six panels in total, initially chose the lion to begin with, but said he wished he hadn’t seen it once the bag of mostly orange pieces were scattered on the board! He opted to tackle the orangutang first instead.

“It was a lot of fun. It was my outlet; my enjoyment,” he said.

The combined team of residents, visitors and off-duty staff, experienced much laughter throughout the 20-month assembly process, even when they discovered missing pieces, which the manufacturer replaced, or attentive cleaning staff found.

Photo | Mike Moores