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Monday 30 October: CWA, Heaven Sales and Economic Revitalisation
On 24 October as part of the Regional Australia food series we carried story on the Regional Living Australia blog on the Country Women's Association and cooking for large numbers. This followed an earlier story on the New England Australia blog looking at the history of the CWA in NSW.
The CWA is Australia's largest women's organisation and still plays a critical role in the life of country Australians.
On 26 October we carried a short blog post warning about the danger of heaven sales, metro buyers who come like someone from heaven to buy overpriced regional real estate simply because it seems cheap by metro standards.
The next day, 27 October, the Regional Australia blog carried the rather remarkable story of the Birds of Bradley Street, a group of women including new arrivals from the city who between them have revitalised the town of Guyra.
The story is an interesting one because it shows what can be done at local level to create growth and new opportunities.
Thursday 19 October: Food and Festivals
On 13 October we carried a further story on the Regional Living Australia blog providing information sources about cultural activities in Regional Australia.
On 16 October we carried a related story looking at the place of festivals in the life of Regional Australia. The photo shows kids enjoying the Land of the Beardies Festival at Glen Innes.
Festivals and agricultural shows have always been an important part of life in Regional Australia. There is a real thrill as a kid in climbing up onto the back of a truck or ute and then sitting there while driving down the main street looking at everybody.
October was obviously a festivals month so far as blog posts were concerned. On his New England Australia blog, Jim Belshaw carried stories on festivals in Glen Innes, Uralla and, more broadly, across New England.
On 13 October, the Regional Living Australia blog began a new series looking back at the history of food in Regional Australia. This was followed on 15 October by a nostalgic look at the old fashioned home garden, something that has become much rarer, especially in cities because of life style pressures and smaller house blocks.
One issue that we are still working through is the best way to get a balance between blogs and the web site. As part of this process, on 19 October we transferred a number of questions and answers from this site to the Regional Living Australia blog because we felt that the blog format allows for greater interactivity.
Thursday 5 October 2006: Getting the Best out of Regional Living
Photo: Wagga Wagga Civic Centre
On 1 October the Regional Living Australia blog ran a story, a case study on ways to get the best out of regional living, comparing attractions around Wagga Wagga with their Sydney equivalents measured by driving time.
While the mix was a little different, Wagga Wagga scored in terms of variety.
On 5 October we continued the theme on getting the best out of regional living by looking at the use of the on-line world. While there are parts of Regional Australia that do not have proper access to broadband, coverage across most of the more populated areas ranges from reasonable to very good.
We will edit and transfer some of this material to this site in due course to make it more broadly accessible