The new owners of the Wanaaring General Store have moved from the burbs to the outback

Firstly, there's the 400 kilometre mail run to the local stations twice a week, then there's the visiting hairdresser to organise or the flying vet to get in.

The caravan park guests need dinner and there are half a dozen cabins to clean.

There's also a Facebook page with more than 6000 followers to manage, with rain updates to post, along with coveted pictures of the rising Paroo River.

And there's the four hour round trip to Bourke to pick up fresh fruit and vegetables for the locals.

The Wanaaring General Store is more than the centre of the town, it is the town.

With a population of roughly 140 people, Wanaaring sits on the iconic Cut Line road, roughly halfway between Bourke and Tibooburra in the state's north west.

For new owners of the general store, Col and Kathy Brown, it's a stark change from their old life in the bayside suburbs of Brisbane.

"The isolation was one of the biggest changes," Kathy said.

"It took a while for my eyes to adapt to not seeing people, where we lived in Brisbane there was more people in our street than live in the entire town of Wanaaring.

"There were always people out and about, but here we can shut the shop, walk around and see no one."

The Browns arrived in Wanaaring in January, welcomed by 45 degree heat that dropped to only 30 degrees at night.

And although their arrival was just weeks before the COVID-19 outbreak took hold, in this corner of the world the global pandemic took a backseat to the arrival of longed for rain.The Paroo River, which runs through the town, flowing for the first time in years.

"People said why didn't you come earlier, you've bought the rain with you," Kathy laughed.

"It was lovely to see everything turn from brown to green, then water kept coming and coming, and we thought it was going to flood at one stage."

Although the Paroo reached the town's levy bank, it didn't rise enough to flood. But Kathy explained that with mostly dirt roads in the district, the rain still cut them off.

"It's a funny issue to have, because on one hand you desperately need the rain but on the other hand it shuts the town down and so you've got no business," she said.

"But they're working on sealing the roads and that will be great."

During that period Kathy was busy posting updates to the Wanaaring Store and Caravan Park Facebook page on where the river had got to, her pictures garnering more than 800 likes.

"There were already a lot of people following the Facebook page when we took over, and I thought how can I live up to what the previous owner did," she said.

"But I thought I would just try to put my own brand on it."

She said the Facebook page was also great for letting people know what was in stock.

"We want to support Buy from the Bush and I post when we have things like handmade soaps in, it's good for people to know they're there," Kathy said.

The Facebook page also let Kathy get the word out that a hairdresser was coming to the general store.

"I don't get into Bourke much and when I do we're very pushed for time, we've got to pick up this, go there, so I don't have a lazy two hours to spend at the hairdresser.

"But someone recommended Kerrie to me and I thought I wonder if she'll come out here.

"She said if I could line up a few people she'd be more than happy to, so I started asking around and it bloomed from there," she said.

Ladies from across the district came into the general store for their haircuts and Kerrie was non-stop all day.

"She's been out twice now and it's just been such a bonus. She said next time a beautician's coming out with her, so I might be able to get my eyebrows done," she said.

Col said the hairdresser days had also been a good chance to get to know more of the locals.

"It's good to be able to work out who's who, suddenly you work out this person's related to this person and so on," he said.

Col said unlike in the city, when people came into the store it's not a matter of hi and bye.

"You sit down and chat for a bit," he said.

"Out here everything's very casual, no one's in a rush, there's no timetable, it just happens when it happens.

"Although you're working long hours, it's a relaxed pace, you don't have that time schedule.

"It's also a beautiful area, the night time's quiet, the sunrises, the sunsets, the stars. It's all these things you don't see in the suburbs."

He said since the first of June, when restrictions eased in NSW and people were allowed to travel, the pace had picked up.

"There's quite a few visitors coming through, it's definitely getting busier all the time," he said.

"It's great, you're constantly meeting different people from different places.

"It's like having new neighbours every night."

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