I live with my DS and DH in "Pretend Country". We are only about 45 min to Canberra and 15 mins to a local village. We live on small acerage and can see several of our neighbours houses. I love that my 3 horses are on the property and our two dogs (although well contained in our back yard can bark a lot without our neighbours being bothered.
We absolutely LOVE it!
I do have to be organised about food shopping and going places with my DS ....coordinating sleep times in drive times and feed times that don't occur along the road can be fun!
I grew up on a much bigger property further from town and I can only recommend the lifestyle.
Kids can "safely" run out the front, make lots of noise and generally be"farm kids".
I have to say as a local horse riding coach I have gotten to know lots of the local kids and don't know one of them I wouldn't happily spend the week with. They are happy confident outdoorsy type kids with good levels of resourcefulness and an understanding of their impact on their families. I think the negotiation to travel and visit people actually makes kids a bit more aware and sensitive to the needs of others in their families......if you want to go to town you have to fit in with a trip there or help mum out so she's got time to take you.
I personally LOVE the quiet days where I don't even hear a car. My SIL reckons it'd drive her nuts.......her kids drive me nuts so each to their own !