{"id":593387,"date":"2026-04-08T12:38:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-08T12:38:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/593387\/"},"modified":"2026-04-08T12:38:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-08T12:38:08","slug":"the-tiny-queensland-town-of-cooladdi-population-two-has-a-pub-and-a-post-office-it-could-be-yours-for-400000-rural-and-regional-australia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/593387\/","title":{"rendered":"The tiny Queensland town of Cooladdi, population two, has a pub and a post office. It could be yours for $400,000 | Rural and regional Australia"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the heart of outback Queensland<\/a>, more than 800km west of Brisbane, sits a town with its own postcode and exactly two residents. Now, the entire population of Cooladdi is packing up \u2013 and the town is officially on the market.<\/p>\n

For $400,000, buyers will get the Foxtrap Roadhouse, a four-bedroom home, and the keys to the town. It\u2019s a far cry from the $935,000 median price for a cramped Sydney unit.<\/p>\n

Cooladdi \u2013 whose name reportedly stems from a local Indigenous word for \u201cblack duck\u201d \u2013 is one of Australia\u2019s smallest towns. Its official status is anchored by the local post office, which operates out of the roadhouse. Because of this, Cooladdi retains its own postcode: 4479.<\/p>\n

Sign up for the Breaking News Australia email<\/a><\/p>\n

The town\u2019s two residents, Carol Yarrow and Jo Cornel, took over the roadhouse in February 2023. They had a three-year plan to bring the quiet stopover back to life. Now, that time is almost up.<\/p>\n

With retirement looming for Yarrow, and Cornel seeking a return to Brisbane to be closer to family, they are ready to hand over the reins.<\/p>\n

The new owners will wear many hats. Running Cooladdi means serving as the postie, the publican, the cook and the shopkeeper.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe food and the pub are probably one of the main jobs; we also do the mail runs as part of the post office,\u201d says Yarrow, who grew up on a station between Quilpie and Windorah. No stranger to remote hospitality, she has spent years running motels and hotels.<\/p>\n

The best thing about Cooladdi is the people who visit the roadhouse, says Carol Yarrow.<\/p>\n

Even though it\u2019s hard work, she says it\u2019s a rewarding gig: \u201cI\u2019ve always found the best thing is the local community \u2026 the people within around 70km who come through the property.\u201d<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t always this quiet. Cooladdi was once a bustling railway hub with a population that peaked at roughly 270. But as the local sheep industry shrank and the trains eventually stopped coming, the town slowly emptied out. The school closed its doors for good in 1974.<\/p>\n

Map showing Coladdi, Queensland, in relation to Brisbane<\/a><\/p>\n

Around that time, Beryl and Bob Fox built the Foxtrap Roadhouse. It was an unusual investment, but it made sure Cooladdi remained a key meeting point.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of history here,\u201d Yarrow says. \u201cSince the residents left \u2013 many moving out to Charleville and the surrounding areas \u2013 people will come to visit who grew up here, to check out the old haunts.\u201d<\/p>\n

Managing the sale is Becky Jeisman from Charleville Real Estate. Located within the Murweh Shire Council, Cooladdi\u2019s closest major centre is Charleville, a town of 3,000 where an average house sells for about $210,000.<\/p>\n

Jeisman says the roadhouse would suit empty nesters, a keen young group, or a family wanting a lifestyle change.<\/p>\n

The new buyer has the potential to drastically change the town\u2019s population.<\/p>\n

\u201cTechnically, yes, there are only two people currently living in Cooladdi,\u201d Jeisman says. \u201cThe population is calculated on how many people own the Foxtrap. It is the town, and if a group of four people buy it, then the population will double.\u201d<\/p>\n

For those tired of city life, Yarrow says Cooladdi offers a great \u201cchange of pace\u201d and a laid-back lifestyle.<\/p>\n

Beyond the titles of publican and postie, Jeisman says that the new owners will inherit a far more important role: maintaining the \u201cgeneral camaraderie\u201d at the heart of an isolated community.<\/p>\n

As she and Cornel prepare to wipe down the bar and pour their final beers, there is hope that Australia\u2019s smallest town has some life left in it yet.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In the heart of outback Queensland, more than 800km west of Brisbane, sits a town with its own…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":593388,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[64,63,99],"class_list":{"0":"post-593387","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-business"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/593387","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=593387"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/593387\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/593388"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=593387"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=593387"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=593387"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}