RATHDOWNEY
Rathdowney may be only 30k from
Beaudesert, but from a visitor perspective may as well have been a
1030. Hardly remote, but the loss of all telephone signals tells the
full story. Rathdowney, though is a very small town and the last (or
first) Qld town before entering NSW. 
It is on the
Mount Lindesay Highway 32 km south of Beaudesert at the base of the
McPherson Range. It is located in the Scenic Rim Local Government
Area. At the 2006 census, Rathdowney had a population of 198.
The town was
named after Rathdowney, Ireland. The Beaudesert railway line was
extended to Rathdowney in 1911 (although, at that time it was a
tramway - the cross-border railway line, passing approximately 3
kilometres outside town, was not completed for another twenty years).
Timber clearing was the first major industry in the area. Cattle
grazing and dairy farming are now the main industries.
It is also close
to some of the areas of greatest biodiversity in Australia, and a
gateway to various National Parks such as Border Ranges National Park
and Mount Barney National Park with a variety of lush rainforest,
eucalypt forest, mountain heath and other habitats.
 
Currently the
small town has a police station, a small shop, a pub , a service
station, a post office,
memorial grounds, information centre, a bowls
club and a small school.
Rathdowney also
has three congregational churches. All different, but nonetheless
interesting. Especially the Anglican and Catholic , each atop their own
steep hill.
The Rathdowney
Museum is a static display
near the War Memorial. 
Rathdowney in
the end surprises, so if on route can be a consideration for a stop
over, but there is insufficient to make the diversion.
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