Tourism

Hugh Schuitemaker. An unused train previously sitting on a Riverland property has been relocated to its historical home on the Yorke Peninsula. The 406 Red Hen train that had previously been located near the Big Orange, between Berri and Renmark was on Monday re-located to Bute, as part of the ‘Get the 406 to Bute’ community project.

Peter Hibberd. Chartres won comfortably in what turned out to be a very fast run for the Bet365 Donald Cup. The trainer Matt Laurie from Mornington completed a rare double with this horse, having won the Mornington Cup with jockey Harry Coffey and the Donald Cup with Tom Madden...

Tackling a worrying gap in the nation’s emergency rescue education, Australia’s leading communications and safety brand, GME has partnered with leading survival expert and instructor, Outback Mike to launch the inaugural National Rescue Awareness Week ... bringing together 65 years of expertise in helping Australians explore our beautiful backyard with simple advice to prepare Aussies better and keep them safe on land and out at sea.

In the opening sequence we’re told by the central character, played by Anna Torv: “Everything up here is trying to kill you.” Not long after we see an already injured man getting mauled to death by a pack of feral dogs … That’s the start of the Netflix series Territory into which the NT Government has sunk $1.3m of taxpayers’ money and on the back of which our tourism promoters want to boost the industry, currently running at half its normal speed.

Cameras flashed and joyful chatter emerged as stall holders and visitors at the Chelmsford Night Markets turned their eyes towards the brand new water tower projection art illuminating the town square for the first time ... The virtual artwork, which is brought to life through state-of-the-art projection technology, pays tribute to Walter Burley Griffin’s design...

Peter Moyle. What a great month – at last consistent clear weather on our scheduled walks. We revisited the secluded and difficult to access 38/38 Chasm, a wonderland of ferns, waterfalls ... Our annual pilgrimage to The Gibraltar Ranges National Park finished the month.

Sam Freeman. I wanted to personally share with you today’s news that the Australian Government announced an $80m financing facility to support the continued operations of the Rex network and their intention to extend the Federal Government Regional Flight Booking Guarantee. This is great news for Rex.  It provides resources for investment needed to improve the business and the operational performance of the regional network including increasing the size of the active regional Rex fleet.

The Wycheproof community can stand tall after completing a trifecta of large-scale events over recent months concluding with the presentation of the Elders Mt. Wycheproof Cup Day ... which drew an attendance of over 3,000 people ... Fashions on the Field entrants again provided a high point of the day, with elegant outfits and ensembles capturing a relaxed “country style”.

Coro Club at Griffith has announces it will no longer host the Riverina Field Days beyond 2024. This decision follows an extensive review involving the Board of Directors, Coro Club staff and consultation with multiple exhibitors, resulting in the board unanimously voting not to proceed with the event in 2025 or beyond.

At the 2024 annual general meeting of the Man from Snowy River Tourism Association (MFSRTA), president Ros McKenzie presented her report of its activities over the past 12 months ... "Our projects are funded from profits from the sale of souvenir items at the Corryong Visitor Information Centre and in the last few years we have also been successful with funding from a number of grants. Ongoing projects of the association are..."

They put their right feet, left feet, right arms, left arms, heads, knees, shoulders, elbows, and bottoms in, and they shook them all about, they did the Hokey Pokey and they turned around, and that’s what it was all about as hundreds of participants attempted to set a new record for the biggest Hokey Pokey in Australian history during the 2024 Grafton Jacaranda Festival.

Quill McQuilty. A huge crowd turned out for Derby Day in the Country and the running of the Elder’s Mt Wycheproof Cup on Saturday, at Wycheproof … The prestigious feature race was won by Bannerton, trained by Austy Coffey and ridden by Nathan Punch a head and neck ahead of Samurai Star, ridden by Cian MacRedmond for Mitchell Freedman.

Qantas customers will continue to be able to fly between Sydney and Lord Howe Island for years to come as part of an agreement with regional airline Skytrans. With the national carrier retiring the Q200 aircraft it currently operates on the route, Skytrans has been awarded the licence to fly to the island by the New South Wales Government exclusively from 26 February 2026.

The NSW Government has announced that licences have been issued to airline operators to provide flights from Sydney to Lord Howe Island and Sydney to Moree. These two routes are the only regulated routes in NSW that require licences under the Air Transport Act (NSW) 1964.

On Saturday Clifton saw an influx of visitors arriving in town to join with the locals to enjoy a wonderful day of racing and socialising.

Naracoorte will soon boast a hotel with five-star accommodation. Dean Group, a family-owned and operated South Australian group – consisting of the Largs Pier Hotel, Walkers Arms Hotel, Macs Hotel, Peninsula Hotel Motel, and London Tavern – have taken ownership of Naracoorte’s Kincraig Hotel on Smith Street...

As part of our Roadshow events, you can visit the Victorian Goldfields World Heritage bid information display at the Maldon Museum and Historic Archives. The team worked together with the Museum volunteers to set up our display on show at the museum throughout November.    

The annual LHI Yachties BBQ Cruise is a rare example of the alternative outlasting the original. It owes its existence to the limited number of visitor moorings in the Lagoon. Two decades ago, when the annual Gosford-Lord Howe Yacht Race was at its peak of popularity, the Race Committee had to turn away many entrants every year simply because they could not be accommodated. In response, some of those excluded entrants decided to cruise over from the mainland a week or two after the race as an informal group.

Catherine and Neil Tait are opening their gates to the public and all the proceeds will be donated to Regional Community Vet Clinic (RCVC). The gorgeous garden at ‘Stringy Bark Hill’ in McKenzie Hill (between Castlemaine and Muckleford) is offered as part of the Castlemaine and District Festival of Gardens ...

Six beautiful gardens were generously opened for viewing for the Narrandera Town and Country Open Garden Day event ... A variety of gardens were on offer for visitors to explore - from large farm, and semi-rural, to small suburban gardens.