But the Warrnambool couple, who have been married for 61 years, wouldn’t trade it for the world.

Mr and Mrs Peskett were part of more than 140 people who attended the South West Carer and Respite Services Network lunch on Thursday at the City Memorial Bowls Club.

Mrs Peskett, 79, said Mr Peskett, 81, has lived with a spinal chord disease for a number of years but their life took another turn when he was hit by a car in Portland earlier this year.

Since then the couple have moved to Lyndoch in Warrnambool and Mrs Peskett is her husband’s full time carer.

“We always managed before but now it’s harder,” she said. “It’s not all beer and skittles.

“When I had cancer he looked after me. It’s my turn.

“We’re good friends. If I was going to spend the day with someone I’d rather spend it with Doug.”

Mrs Peskett said the carers lunch was a fantastic break and reminded her and Mr Peskett of the old time dances they went to in their youth.

For four Warrnambool women who also attended the lunch, the event was an opportunity to catch up with friends going through a similar experience.

The women, who did not want to be identified, said they felt guilty when their husbands were put in care for respite.

They said there was no real alternative to being a carer other than to leave their loved one. “We’ve been married for so long, and I didn’t want him to go into care,” one woman said.

“Your life isn’t yours, you can’t plan.” 

They said the people they cared for appreciated what they did but it was difficult for others to empathise with their situation.

“Unless you’re a carer you don’t really have any idea what it’s about,” the woman said.

They said the key was taking each day as it came.

“It’s just one step at a time,” the woman said.

South West Carer and Respite Services Network coordinator Wendy Jones data showed in 2015 there were 2.7 million unpaid carers in Australia and the replacement value of the unpaid care provided in 2015 was $60.3 billion.

She said almost all primary carers care for a family member and it was estimated that carers provided 1.9 billion of unpaid care in 2015.

Ms Jones said the event, was part of Carers Week, was a change to celebrate the work that local carers did which went largely unrecognized.

“Being a carer is just part of their everyday life,” she said.

Ms Jones said the feedback she received from the annual event was phenomenal.