Mar 2019, Genoa, Vic
We wake to a glorious sunrise across foggy paddocks, the bellbirds are singing. The forests rise high around us. Moss clings to branches and Autumn is in the air. I cross the old wooden bridge. The town itself is heartbreaking; pub store and roadhouse all closed or boarded up.
itchingforhitching 
So sad. I had the impression that your townships are fairly far apart. I must be wrong, as these citizens must shop somewhere ….
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I would guess that they’d shop over the border in Eden, New South Wales. It’s about 60kms away.
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It looks like beautiful country, maybe people will move back there, retirees maybe?
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I’d say Mallacoota might be picking up a few retirees but even more so the Sapphire Coast.
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Such a shame to see places slowly dying like that. Happens all over the world but still sad.
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Certainly in this country there are two factors. The improvement in cars and farms growing larger. To make a decent living the farms need to be larger and these days use less manual labour so when a farmer retires the property often gets taken over by a neighbour. Before long there are less people living in the district and the smaller towns just shrivel up. Meanwhile one town will gradually grow to become the district hub. I guess the same thing has been happening for centuries hence the little signposts with quaint names and nothing left but a ruin or a creek.
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I think this happens everywhere with small businesses and villages being swallowed up by larger ones. Sad to see but not much you can do to stop it.
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I do admire the efforts of the small towns that say “No we will not die!” And come up with brilliant and often quirky ways to reinvent themselves. Like Winton in Qld, beef cattle to dinosaurs is quite an historical leap.
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All the lost dreams of those who set up the businesses. Such a shame.
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It is interesting to see the towns that survive and go on to become ever larger cities while others shrivel and die. A lot can be said for the reliability of the motor car and the ease with which one can drive further.
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