Why I Live in Yarraman
I have been all around Australia, and lived all over Queensland, from the Gulf to the Granite Belt, from Brisbane to Birdsville, and I chose to retire to Yarraman. I wanted a rural village that had all the necessities such as supermarket, doctor, chemist, etc. but none of the drawbacks of big city living like crowds, traffic, noise, crime and so on. When I go into the bank at Yarraman, the staff greet me by my first name. I can get as involved in the community as I choose – currently I am an active member of the Progress Association, Business Group, and Men’s Shed.
Yarramans greatest attraction to retirees is the unbelievably low cost of housing. I could literally buy two houses here for the price of one in Brisbane. Council rates are also really, really affordable. I can walk to the IGA or the pub in five minutes, or the bowls club in ten minutes. I love the climate – cold, crisp winter mornings are followed by shirtsleeve days, the mountain air is so clean you could drink it. Summer days are rarely too hot and the evenings are just delightful.
The great advantage of village living is that the grape vine tells our local police sergeant everything that’s happening almost instantly, so he keeps well on top of any nonsense. And, of course, we all look out for our neighbours, unlike city folk. If you come to Yarraman, it will take you about five minutes to work out who I am. I like it like that. It’s called community.
Admittedly, if we want to buy something major like a T.V. or a car, we have to go to Kingaroy. But that is only a half hour drive on a major road with very little traffic, or a bit lon-
ger through some of the most scenic country backroads, which we often choose to do. And there are still no crowds to battle when we get there.
When we feel the urge to go tripping, it’s only two hours’ drive to the Brisbane airport, or the Sunshine Coast. Going north, we can avoid the nightmare they call the Bruce Highway, and south we have all the New England Highway to explore without having to go through a city bigger than Toowoomba.
For me, Yarraman is the ultimate retirement village…