We might be an hour from the centre of Canberra but that is not the whole story. There are two small country towns near us whose services we access and who benefit from us spending money in them.
The farm is 5 minutes from the little village of Captains Flat which has a service station/post office/general store, it also has a resturant, bowling club, church, school, swimming pool and various community groups. It has a pub with the longest bar in Australia (or maybe NSW or it might be just Captains Flat) the pub is currently undergoing some sort of transition so we can't get a beer at the moment. This village was a mining town, and has been through a couple of boom and bust phases, and is currently recovering from a bust.
The farm is 5 minutes from the little village of Captains Flat which has a service station/post office/general store, it also has a resturant, bowling club, church, school, swimming pool and various community groups. It has a pub with the longest bar in Australia (or maybe NSW or it might be just Captains Flat) the pub is currently undergoing some sort of transition so we can't get a beer at the moment. This village was a mining town, and has been through a couple of boom and bust phases, and is currently recovering from a bust.
The other town is Braidwood and is considerably larger than Captains Flat, offering many more services, it is located half way between Canberra and the coast and is only 35 minutes from the farm. We enjoy doing our farm business there, as it offers a much more personal service than the city, and in the case of rural produce, is much cheaper. The money we spend in these country towns is important to their economies and survival. Without them most of our farms and lifestyle blocks would be much more isolated. We might be able to fill up the car for less in Canberra, but that small cost advantage, does not compensate for the convenience of a local service station, and means it will still be there when we need it.