Just got back from Gympie...
Went there to reconnoitre the territory. Staid in Mary Street in a local pub and spent the two days exploring real estate, real hills and valleys; and real prices.
There are plenty of steep hills in Gympie and when the place floods, as it does regulary, these rises serve as isthmuses and islands in the stream.
The 1999 flood (pictured below)was one of the biggest Mary River floods to inundate the town.
That year, the pub we staid in was under water to its first floor as was most of Gympie's main street, Mary Street. It's a strange feeling to walk around town with the presumption that you are walking in the deep end of a very large -- and for now, empty -- swimming pool. When Gympie floods, a massive amount of water is needed to drown it.
So when you go looking at real estate in Gympie the flood map has to be in the back of your mind.
Even the sewage system has to breathe through outlet flus (pictured above) that rise these activities above the highwater mark
The irony being that what should be a town icon -- the sewer flus -- don't suit a tourist image of a tidy town so they aren't celebrated.
But floods come and go..and if your road into town is inundated, maybe there's a back way around the shoreline.? but then, maybe not...
We also learnt
- that some very tasty sausages (and hickory smoked) are made in Gympie
- that you'd need a mountain bike to cycle around town if you wanted to remain seated uphill (scootering is a downhill activity only)
- that the McMansion pandemic has also infected Gympie's new housing estates
- that there are even more real estate agencies in Gympie than Opportunity shops.But as many Op shops as computer shops.
- that I can walk anywhere in town from Mary Street, up hill and down dale, in about 30 minutes.
- that you can get cheap espresso and quality food in main street cafes.
