Australia is paying attention, Gympie, and it's about time

We don't aspire to set the national agenda. We don't want to be "trendy”. We don't even want to be Noosa. We are Gympie, and we are awesome.

WAS there anyone left in Gympie on the weekend or was everyone at the Adele concert or driving their teenagers to Good Life?

If you weren't at the Gabba or lining up for a bus to get to the Gabba, you might have noticed a quirky little story about Gympie on mega news site news.com along the lines of "the Queensland town that won't let the 80s die”.

It was cute, and pretty much true.

Sporting rollers skating. Picture: Contributed

Yes, we like our video stores and our dine-in pizza restaurants, and yes, we like to go roller skating.

We're progressive, we're growing, we're getting closer and closer to Brisbane, and we like heading down there for the events that have no chance of making it to the Civic Centre or Nelson Reserve.

VIDEO DRAMA: Local investor Peter Fife (LEFT) along with store manager David Kendall (RIGHT) have saved Gympie's beloved video store from closure. Picture: Rowan Schindler

We are moving into the future at a steady pace but we don't believe in throwing the baby out with the bath water.

There's no shame in that. In fact, there's a whole lot of common sense. Some things are worth preserving. The lifestyle here is one of those things.

We don't aspire to set the national agenda. We don't want to be "trendy”. We don't even want to be Noosa.

We are Gympie, we are 150 years old this year and we march to the rhythm of our own drum.

The rest of Australia would do well to pay attention. And it now clearly is.

Pizza Hut Restaraunt, Brisbane Road, Gympie. May 30, 2016. Picture: Patrick Woods