Small Australian town with just two residents is now up for sale

One of Australia's tiniest towns is up for sale at only $400,000. Despite its size and price, Cooladdi is an official town with its own postcode (4479) located within the Murweh Shire Council. It is almost 10 hours away from Brisbane, and has a population of two, Carol Yarrow and Jo Cornel. The two women ran the small town for the last three years. Now, they are selling the town along with the businesses that come with it, which include two mail delivery routes, a post office, and a pub. On April 8, Miss Yarrow revealed why they're leaving the town to ABC News Australia, "I've just turned 70 and [am] finding I'm getting a bit old for it."

Cooladdi is located on Australia's longest road, the Diamantina Developmental Road. Before it became an outback town, it was home to 270 residents during its peak. It also had a school, a police station, and a railway station. However, now, visitors only see remnants of the hall and railway structures. The only active hub in the town is the Foxtrot Roadhouse, which sits on a 5,062 sqm piece of land. 

To get an idea of the size, Miss Yarrow said, "I think six city apartments would fit in this building." The Foxtrot Roadhouse has a café, a bar, a post office, a four-bedroom house, and a "utility room." Behind the building, there are four carpeted motel rooms with air conditioning, a private cabin, a timber shed, a space for three cars, a hen house, and a small garden for vegetables. Miss Yarrow added, "Also included in [the] sale is a diesel generator that runs the whole show when the power goes out."

Despite just two residents, Cooladdi has a proper power connection and high-speed internet, which surprised a lot of interested buyers. "We have a constant stream of trucks — cattle trucks, oil and gas trucks going to Eromanga and Moomba. During the tourist season, we have heaps of caravanners and campers. We never get lonely, that’s for sure," Miss Yarrow said.

Miss Yarrow also shared a little about what she and Cornel are planning to do next. "Jo is moving back to Brisbane, and I am staying out in the district as I love it out here." Shaun 'Zoro' Radnedge, the Mayor of Murweh Shire, had this to say about Cooladdi, "The amount of people that stop off there and stay there, camp there has been amazing."

Before Yarrow and Cornel took over Cooladdi, Caitlyn Gribbin, a reporter at ABC News Australia, visited the town back in 2019. Seven years ago, the town of Cooladdi had three residents — Roxanne Muller, her husband Gavin, and her mother Laurel Seymour-Smith. Gribbin described how the town was years ago: "No mobile phone reception, no school, no police station, no swimming pool, no bank." But one thing that remained the same was the passersby. She wrote, "Every day there's somebody passing through. There's not a day that goes by where that doesn't happen."

Becky Jeisman, the principal agent from Charleville Real Estate, said it is a special find for any buyer who is interested. She added, "It's just filled with everything you could possibly want and has so much character." To sweeten the deal, she said, "It's a profitable little enterprise with all of its income streams. And even in the quieter off-season, the mail run carries you through." As Yarrow and Cornel pass the responsibility, they hope the next owners have as much fun as they did. "I'd like to see some younger ones come and give it a shot," Cornel told 10 News.

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