Tourism

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.

The Kaniva and District Progress Association’s Wiregrass Heritage Trail project is progressing well, combining art, history, and community input to bring Australian social history to life. The project launched in July 2023 with an initial community meeting to gather local input, followed by the start of video storytelling, capturing the community’s connection to the trail’s history.

Born and raised in the Clarence Valley, Alice Jabour, 30, grew up admiring the Grafton Jacaranda Festival and the proud traditions it holds within the local community. As a student at St Joseph’s Primary School in South Grafton, she recalls feeling inspired to nominate as a Jacaranda candidate after a former Jacaranda Royal Party visited her and her classmates.

...the administrators for Rex Airlines have advised the sale of Pel-Air, part of the Rex business, to Helicorp Pty Ltd, part of Toll Aviation. Pel-Air is the contractor supplying ambulance services to Ambulance Victoria and NSW Ambulance, along with specially-modified aircraft for international and domestic aeromedical transfers.  

The annual Mallee Root Round Up B’n’S Ball brought rural spirit and good fun to the fore this past weekend, drawing 637 attendees from across Victoria to the Birchip Trotting Track. With an exuberant crowd, fantastic music and plenty of country hospitality and camaraderie, this year's event was a resounding success, raising $100,000 in ticket and merchandise sales.

Oh glorious springtime Saturday in October, the air around Mount Tarrengower filled with the sound of bees and pobblebonks and roaring, revving engines. It was the Historic Hill Climb on Saturday 19 October, so motor-heads from miles around converged at Butts Reserve to admire each other’s chassis and race up and down the hill, as has been the tradition since 1928.

Hooray for the 160th Maldon and Baringhup Show on 20 October. It was a winner of a day under blue skies at the Maldon Racecourse and Recreation Reserve, where folks gathered to appreciate the achievements of growers, breeders, makers, doers and animals of our region. There was something for everyone to enjoy.