Tourism

Four tourism operators across the Northern Territory are creating new evening experiences for visitors, to enhance their attractions and encourage more tourists to visit the NT ... “These new evening experiences enhance our tourism offerings in the NT, which in turn helps to generate positive reviews and attract more visitors to explore our regions"; Minister for Tourism and Hospitality, Nicole Manison

Beth Knights. The wet and cold weather did not deter more than a thousand delighted music lovers from their pilgrimage to Maldon for the 47th year of the Maldon Folk Festival.  This year saw the addition of a Welcome to Country smoking ceremony, and an opening party to celebrate the volunteers; the very backbone of the festival.  

Winners of the annual Gomaren & Doctor’s Creek Focus on Farms photography competition will be announced at the Jacaranda Day festival in Goombungee this Saturday, 5 November. “No matter where you live, the connection to farming is an important part of our identity as Australians”: competition coordinator Jean Gundry ... the primary school category within the competition has a focus on insects.

Emma Pritchard. A member of the LGBTIQA+ community and a proud Indigenous woman from Gubbi Gubbi Country, Amanda Daffey is the first candidate to assume the title of Jacaranda Ambassador in the 88-year history of the Grafton Jacaranda Festival after the Jacaranda Festival Committee announced in February that Australia’s oldest floral festival would become a gender-neutral event in 2022.

Emma Pritchard. An exuberant crowd turned back the clock to the 1950s and 1960s at Market Square on October 30 as Retrofest 2022 rocked Grafton’s popular recreational area beneath the blossoming jacaranda trees. A vivid celebration of vintage fashions, classic cars and all things rock ‘n’ roll, the annual event is one of the most popular festivities during the Grafton Jacaranda Festival...

The Hartley District Progress Association (HDPA) and the community of Hartley welcome the Federal Government’s decision to pause funding on the NSW State Government’s proposed Great Western Highway “upgrade” from Katoomba to Lithgow. Stopping the “upgrade” provides a critical opportunity to reconsider how best to improve travel times across the Blue Mountains and how best to direct infrastructure funding.

Explore TV ... Trevor Cochrane and the crew of Guru Productions filmed an entire episode on Lord Howe Island ... The crew had a great time on the island in early October meeting local businesses and constantly finding more stories to include in the show ... Melissa Leong ... Australian Traveller ... Qantas Magazine ...

Previously it’s been hit by Covid and heavy rain but the popular Weekend still survives. Already plans are underway for the 2023 Allora Heritage Weekend to be held on 28th and 29th January. Visitors come from all over to enjoy a weekend in Allora and spend time browsing around the old machinery, vintage cars, trucks and bikes at the Showgrounds.

A local lizard lover has been keeping a watchful eye on a lounge of Cunningham Skinks in Muir Street at Allora. These lizards will remain safe from any harm as they disappear in a flash if danger comes close. So look but don’t try to touch!

Emma Pritchard. As vibrant explosions of mauve and lilac blossoms engulf the streets in a collage of colour each spring, we know the jacaranda season has arrived, and as a community, we come together to celebrate the Grafton Jacaranda Festival.  An esteemed annual event, rich in local history, culture and tradition, the oldest floral festival in Australia draws people from across the country, and the world, to the Clarence Valley each year.

Don’t be fooled by their age because some of Australia’s most elite cricketers are out to prove they can “knock ‘em for six” when they converge on the Barossa for the Veterans Cricket Australia Over 50s Cricket Championships. From 20 November, 42 teams across 5 Divisions will play four games over five days on South Australia’s finest turf wickets with Tanunda, Angaston and Greenock included among the venues outside the metropolitan area.

It was a joyful, heartfelt gathering at Woodfordia on Saturday night. Around 300 organisers, producers, staff, committee, volunteers and friends launched our programme for the festival this year. It felt like a new beginning.

Emma Pritchard. The phenomenal beauty of the blossoming jacaranda trees in See Park, Grafton, is an extraordinary sight to behold during the day. And their astonishing colours will once again light up the night sky during the 2022 Grafton Jacaranda Festival ... the event encourages locals and tourists to wander through See Park after dark and enjoy a twilight picnic or relaxing visit ...

It’s just a kilometre or two off the New England Highway at East Greenmount and easy to miss if you don’t know it’s there, but Steele Rudd Memorial Park is a must visit attraction for locals and tourists. Arthur Hoey Davis, better known by his pen name of Steele Rudd has certainly left a legacy, not just for the our local area but for the whole nation as his fictional work ‘On Our Selection’ has helped shape Australian culture.

The Ivanhoe Dry Times 2022 Truck, Tractor, Car and Bike show attracted not only Wilcannia residents but a truck which started its working life in Wilcannia ... As well as trucks, the show attracted a good number of veteran, vintage and modern cars.

The Alexandrina Council owned Paddle Steamer, PS Oscar W, is a major drawcard for locals and tourists to our region and will soon feature in its very own short film series following the amazing slipping and maintenance journey of our Friends of the Oscar W volunteer group. The PS Oscar W has just undergone its biennial slipping and maintenance to inspect and restore the historic paddle steamer and is a fantastic example of regenerative heritage in action.

As well as the Craft & Fine Food Spectacular, Pittsworth is hosting an exhibition of paintings by Cliff Bauer titled A Time for Change, this weekend. The focus of this exhibition will be Mr Bauer’s love and appreciation for the Australian landscape and his desire for its preservation.

The Old Days Festival set a new single day attendance record and one of the nation's biggest gatherings of draught animals as it roared back to life over the holiday weekend after a two-year hiatus ... The most experienced teamsters in the country assembled to showcase horses, camels, bullocks, donkeys and goats all in harness and hauling wagons, ploughs, water carts, buggies, sleds, sulkies and timber jinkers.

Kendall Jennings. Mother nature dealt the Kerang and District Agricultural Society an unfair hand as they prepared for the 136th Kerang Annual Show with rain that made the Kerang Turf Club waterlogged. It was a moment of damned if you do, damned if you don’t, deciding if the event would go ahead or not last week.

A tour guide, hotel concierge and bar attendant are among the working holiday makers to secure jobs after jetting Down Under as part of the South Australian Tourism Commission’s ‘ £10 flight’ campaign. Launched in April, the campaign attracted global attention as it offered young travellers in the United Kingdom and Ireland return flights to Adelaide for just £10...

With wonderful prizemoney on offer and one of the final chances to gain a place in the $2 Million Big Dance at Randwick on Melbourne Cup day, outstanding nominations have been received for the $200,000 Carlton Dry Port Macquarie Cup at the circuit on Friday. The champion stable of Chris Waller has earmarked five horses for the club’s feature with Quality Time spearheading the team following two strong metropolitan wins by the German import.