Visiting from Sydney with my Dad, we zipped around on the monorail, watched the nightly laser light shows, and marvelled at the bright future of a rapidly changing “BrisVegas” – entirely unaware that I would, eventually, be calling this city home.
asserted
I → visit → city
The following year, when I was just 22, I bought a modest, one-bedroom flat in Kedron.
asserted
I → buy → Kedron
No New South Wales bank would give me a mortgage at that age, but a Queensland bank backed me, and I became what would later be known as a “rentvester”, owning in Brisbane but living in a rented unit in Harbord – now Freshwater – on Sydney’s Northern Beaches.
asserted
what → give → Beaches
Back then, there was no way I could afford to buy anything on that expensive slice of the coast, and I kept my Kedron unit for 13 years, finally selling it to buy my first home in Belrose.
uncertain
I → be → Belrose
But Brisbane wasn’t done with me.
asserted
Brisbane → do → me
Decades later, I needed to escape a volatile situation on those same Northern Beaches.
asserted
I → need → Beaches
I fled to Queensland, initially looking at new townhomes in Norman Park.
asserted
I → flee → Park
Then I realised I could buy a brand-new house-and-land package in a masterplanned community called Ellendale, Upper Kedron, for the same price.
uncertain
I → realise → price
So it’s a tale of two Kedrons, in fact.
asserted
it → ’ → fact
But the two suburbs are some 15 kilometres apart, separated west to east by Keperra, Mitchelton, Everton Park, Stafford Heights and Stafford.
asserted
suburbs → separate → Keperra
We get our name from Kedron Brook, not Kedron proper.
asserted
We → get → Brook
The waterway notwithstanding, Kedron is highly urbanised, powered by the pumping artery of Gympie Road.
asserted
Kedron → power → Road
Upper Kedron, by contrast, is surrounded on three sides by D’Aguilar National Park.
asserted
Kedron → surround → Park
The masterplanned reality has manifested as a dense sea of massive, two-storey family homes increasingly crammed onto microplots.
asserted
reality → manifest → microplots
Despite having worked as a fact-checker in print and broadcast media, focused on truth-seeking, I managed to buy a suburban display home based on a developer’s glossy brochure that singularly failed to mention they were situated right on what would become the primary arterial road through the expanding estate.
asserted
what → work → estate
Instead of quiet bushland bliss, I have heavy dump trucks rattling my windows six days a week, pounding past until 6.30pm.
asserted
trucks → have → 6.30pm
This endless line of heavy construction vehicles treats my “peaceful haven” like a major highway.
asserted
line → treat → highway
I’ve been forced to install a double-glazed uPVC entryway just to keep the din out.
asserted
I → force → din
The Pensar water reservoir project is providing important infrastructure to the estate and while “every effort will be made to minimise impacts to the community”, the official masterplans tell me the work will continue until late 2027.
asserted
work → provide → 2027
I am an outlier here – a self-proclaimed spinster librarian living with my cat Chloe in a heavily family-centric suburban estate.
asserted
I → proclaim → estate
Conveniently, the Arana Hills library is just around the corner from the pool, allowing me to borrow books and converse with like-minded librarians.
asserted
me → allow → librarians
As an avid animal lover, pet-sitting has become my passion, giving me a wonderful sense of productivity and purpose.
asserted
sitting → become → productivity
Bushwalking on nearby trails is a fabulous stress reliever, and being so close to the native bush brings back pleasant memories of my childhood in Beacon Hill.
asserted
being → bushwalke → Hill
Honeyeaters dart frantically through the canopy, and scrub turkeys prowl the ground level, completely indifferent to the changing landscape.
asserted
turkeys → dart → landscape
They offer a fleeting escape from the suburban sprawl.
asserted
They → offer → sprawl
In 2024, when Ellendale Village shops finally opened, we could hardly believe it.
uncertain
we → open → it
It was a long time coming.
asserted
It → come → ?
The car park is always full, but I prefer the walk as it’s so close to home.
asserted
it → prefer → home
I seem to be in the IGA every other day.
asserted
I → seem → IGA
Their friendly staff always greet customers with a smile.
asserted
staff → greet → smile
We have a chemist right next to our Upper Kedron Medical Centre.
asserted
We → have → Centre
Now I can walk down to see my new GP, too.
asserted
I → walk → GP
When I need it most, kind neighbours often step in to help me.
asserted
neighbours → need → me
One of my warm-hearted neighbours has even been helping me with my gardening.
asserted
One → help → gardening
This gentleman has trimmed my hedges, whipper-snipped the edges and donated cuttings.
asserted
gentleman → trim → cuttings
All this from a gent who has the most beautiful front garden in Canvey Road!
asserted
who → have → Road
Amazing to have neighbours who are so kind and giving living close by.
asserted
who → have → neighbours
For Upper Kedron, I believe that peace will eventually return.
asserted
peace → believe → Kedron
But it might not be until after the Brisbane Olympics, when the new builds are finally complete, and the big trucks no longer dominate our horizons.
uncertain
trucks → dominate → horizons
The Aporia
