Insight to the Lockyer Valley - Home is Where the Heart Is
Home is where the heart is - there are no truer words.
I love my country lifestyle.
Try as I might to move away from my small country home town of Gatton, Queensland, Australia I still reside there as do most of my family.
I have travelled within Australia, as well as internationally, but I can never relocate away from my own safe haven and country lifestyle permanently.
Here, I will give you an insight into my home town of Gatton and the surrounding areas.
When there has been some rain, the area is beautifully green and healthy.
A town of approximately 6,000 people in the south eastern corner of Queensland, Gatton has grown in population in recent years with the influx of foreign travellers on working holidays and newly arrived and settled immigrants.
Nestled in the heart of the Lockyer Valley, Gatton and its rich surrounding agricultural areas have earned a solid reputation as a quality provider of fresh fruit and vegetable produce.
The nearby towns of Grantham and Coominya also help to place the area on the map so to speak, as they operate abattoirs - predominantly in the beef export industry.
Gatton is nicely situated one hour from the Queensland State Capital of Brisbane, within a couple of hours drive of both the Sunshine Coast and Gold Coast and based at the bottom of the Great Dividing Range separating it from the Darling Downs.
It is therefore conveniently located as a stepping stone to major metropolitan and agricultural centres in every direction.
It is still the dream of many local teenagers and young adults to finish school, spread their wings, and fly away to bigger and better things.
Ironically, for foreign backpackers on working holidays, Gatton is a must stop destination for fruit and vegetable picking work all year round.
Strangely enough, many people who went to the local high school and later moved away have since returned to settle in the area with their young families.
For my part, whilst I still reside locally, I have finally managed to obtain employment in a nearby city.
This is not due to lack of motivation on my part to expand my horizons, but rather because I was lucky enough to be offered an exceptional opportunity to start my legal career with a local law firm with whom I had already completed a trainee-ship during high school.
Although I still have dreams of leaving Gatton and travelling abroad, I now realize how safe and welcoming my home town is, and probably always will be, to me.
I believe that it does not matter where you come from, or where you go, the place where you grew up will always give you childhood memories and hold a special place in your heart.
I love my country lifestyle.
Try as I might to move away from my small country home town of Gatton, Queensland, Australia I still reside there as do most of my family.
I have travelled within Australia, as well as internationally, but I can never relocate away from my own safe haven and country lifestyle permanently.
Here, I will give you an insight into my home town of Gatton and the surrounding areas.
When there has been some rain, the area is beautifully green and healthy.
A town of approximately 6,000 people in the south eastern corner of Queensland, Gatton has grown in population in recent years with the influx of foreign travellers on working holidays and newly arrived and settled immigrants.
Nestled in the heart of the Lockyer Valley, Gatton and its rich surrounding agricultural areas have earned a solid reputation as a quality provider of fresh fruit and vegetable produce.
The nearby towns of Grantham and Coominya also help to place the area on the map so to speak, as they operate abattoirs - predominantly in the beef export industry.
Gatton is nicely situated one hour from the Queensland State Capital of Brisbane, within a couple of hours drive of both the Sunshine Coast and Gold Coast and based at the bottom of the Great Dividing Range separating it from the Darling Downs.
It is therefore conveniently located as a stepping stone to major metropolitan and agricultural centres in every direction.
It is still the dream of many local teenagers and young adults to finish school, spread their wings, and fly away to bigger and better things.
Ironically, for foreign backpackers on working holidays, Gatton is a must stop destination for fruit and vegetable picking work all year round.
Strangely enough, many people who went to the local high school and later moved away have since returned to settle in the area with their young families.
For my part, whilst I still reside locally, I have finally managed to obtain employment in a nearby city.
This is not due to lack of motivation on my part to expand my horizons, but rather because I was lucky enough to be offered an exceptional opportunity to start my legal career with a local law firm with whom I had already completed a trainee-ship during high school.
Although I still have dreams of leaving Gatton and travelling abroad, I now realize how safe and welcoming my home town is, and probably always will be, to me.
I believe that it does not matter where you come from, or where you go, the place where you grew up will always give you childhood memories and hold a special place in your heart.
