Mandy Nolan has ruffled a few feathers in our local town! Wondai is not dead, nor is it close to dying! There is always a hive of activity that to someone who has lived in the city/coast area might not seem as busy, but the underlying dynamics are just as strong!
At Wondai everyone is friendly, willing to help out a fellow local or a complete stranger just passing through. We may not be the largest town in the shire and we may not have grown the way Kingaroy has, but ask anyone that lives there and we are thankful about that! Who wants every town to be a city!
I know for some it is a matter of convenience to have everything they need within a 5-minute drive, but the local IGA is open seven days a week, there is a 24-hour self-serve fuel stop and as for the pool closing for lunch… well who wants to swim in the middle of the day when it is at its hottest and the UV rating is high? As well as this we have fantastic health services and P–10 school, among other facilities.
Some of the old shops may have closed, but as it is with life, when something dies another is reborn, and we have a number of new businesses in the town.
I was born in Wondai, lived there for my primary school years, moved away for a while, but came back and am living 25 minutes from town. My parents still live in our family home and my children went to the Wondai kindergarten. There are a number of community groups running, along with the timber museum, art gallery and local sporting and interest clubs.
It is a beautiful town that is well maintained by the local council. The streets are always clean and the gardens lovely (though at times a little dry, but when water restrictions are imposed everyone must comply).
I urge anyone who has not visited our town to do so as it is not desolate and dying, but buzzing with life and friendly faces ready to welcome you in. And yes we will have some wildlife around, but I have not often heard of them planning attacks on our visitors or locals. We are in the country after all!
As for the author of this piece… I hope that you may return when you are in a happier frame of mind. Maybe then you will see the roses blooming and not just the thorns.
Thank you for reading.
Natalie Thomas (nee Biltoft)
