Scenic Drive.
The town planner in charge of naming the streets in one of my hometown’s new developments has a pretty wry sense of humour.
Every morning, a pair of rainbow lorikeets fly up to my family home in Emerald and drop their two fledgelings off, sort of like lorikeet daycare. They mostly sit snuggled up next to each other on the veranda architrave, but occasionally hop down to eat the seed and fruit my Mum puts out for them.
Cockatoos, galahs and lots of other birds drop by too, but they’re only there for the free food and don’t give the little lorikeets any trouble.
This is a picture of the Nogoa River, a muddy, narrow and generally nondescript tributary which runs through my home town of Emerald in central Queensland.
It also marks the border between the 1990s and today, techologically speaking. People who live in the new estates on the eastern side of the river (left hand side of the picture) are unable to access high-speed ADSL2+ broadband internet. Some are on ADSL, most still on dial-up.
As far as rural areas go, Emerald is hardly poor or remote. With a population of just over 10 000, a median household income well above the national average and only a 90 mintute plane flight to the state capital of Brisbane, the town is a major regional centre for Government departments, shopping, agriculture, mining, private enterprise, tourism and education.
At the beginning of the month, the federal government announced that Emerald would be one of seven locations for the first round of investment in the national broadband network. Strangely, the western side of the town was excited, the eastern side less so. Much like an active sex life or a driver’s licence, it turns out a fast, reliable internet connection is one of those things where you don’t realise what you’re missing until you have one.
The internet is a tiny speck on the timeline of communications and we have no idea what it is capable of in the future. How exciting! It has already made the world smaller and the country less isolated through education and commerce, an absolute blessing for those in rural areas. Investing in the future shouldn’t be a hokey catchphrase - it needs to be a reality.Technology isn’t just for nerds.
For more information on this bizarre situation, here is a Google map I made with more of my sparkling social commentary. Enjoy.
