This morning’s ABC online news story, about two women who have taken over an isolated rural roadhouse and are determined to reinvigorate the town it’s in – Cooladdi (about 800kms south-west of Brisbane) – is fascinating to me.
Ever since childhood, I’ve had a dream to live in a small rural community but here I am in my 50s and the dream still hasn’t come true.
But could I actually do it? I won’t know until I try, I suppose.
These days, of course, access to internet takes away a huge chunk of the isolation because, even if there were very few people around me, my friends and family could still be connected to me online or via my mobile. But would that be enough?
Apparently, Cooladdi once had a population of more than 270 people – and all the infrastructure and businesses that a town of that size needs, including shops, a school, a pub, a police station and a local community hall.
But when the train stopped coming, the population slowly dwindled and when the local school closed in 1974, the families that had stayed, moved on.
Have you ever lived in a small town? Have you ever visited this one – Cooladdi – on your travels around Australia? No matter how big or small a place is – what do you think is at the heart of a community?
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