NSW

Two young Raiders Football stars, Eli Boyd and Will Lake, both 16, had a thrilling, albeit cold Gaelic football trip. The trip through Wanderer’s Australia saw the local lads take on some of Ireland’s best young Gaelic footballers as they joined 40 students travelling to the other side of the globe.

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Rodney Stevens. The Yamba Ocean Swim kicked off 2023 with a splash as a record number of entrants hit the water across all age groups, cheered on by a crowd of hundreds on a stunning summer’s day ... “We had 397 entrants this year which is well up on our previous best of 354 in 2013,” said Yamba Surf Club Surf Sports Director and Race Organiser Jim Dougherty.

Rodney Stevens. The Clarence Valley’s reputation of being a premier holiday destination, but an even better place to live, has seen tourists and locals taking an active interest in the real estate market and holiday letting almost at capacity during the Christmas holidays. On the back of Yamba being named in real-estate.com.au Hottest 100 suburbs for 2023, agents are reporting steady sales and solid inquiries.

Emma Pritchard. While many people journey to the Clarence Valley to experience its regional charm, culture, scenery, and its vibrant communities and townships, its unique history and heritage are on public display at Schaeffer House Museum in Grafton. And for the next two months, the museum is showcasing a special exhibition.

With a heavy heart, BlazeAid camp coordinator Cindy Lusted announced the group would be packing up and leaving Rappville and the Richmond Valley by January 20 ... “From what I’ve heard, everyone who has had BlazeAid help said their stress has subsided because their fencing has been fixed”: Rappville Commercial Hotel publican Lisa Stewart. “It is imperative BlazeAid stay.”

Rockmans clothing store in Casino has closed. The shop at the Woolworths shopping complex is empty ... mannequins, stripped of the clothes they wore, lean on boxes on the shop floor.

Michael and Karen Schill have set up a shop in the most unlikely place. A few kilometres along Long Gully Rd is the Drake Community Store ... Long Gully Rd is a winding scenic road following the path of Rocky River. Tourists come to pan for gold in the river.

Farmers are frustrated by a stoush between state and federal governments that is holding up the construction of a vital freight link. On Tuesday Transport Minister Catherine King said the federal government would fund the start and end of the Great Western Highway upgrade, but there was “no money for the middle section” – a tunnel proposed by the state government.

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Dorrigo’s first show in three years might be over but organisers and officials are still celebrating its quality, success and popularity. Society President, Sally Duckett summed it up this way: “After three tough years of “No Show” forced upon us by Covid 19, 2022 was a huge success; perhaps one of the best ever.”

Suzie Christensen, LHIB. The woodhen survey has seen another increase in woodhen number with more than 1,000 woodhens counted. This is a record number of woodhens for the Island, surpassing the 778 individuals counted last March.

Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s now famous poem ‘The Rime of the Ancient Mariner’ embodies the seaman’s superstition ... somewhat bizarrely, whilst researching the story of the Lord Howe Sylph through various newspaper reports in the 1850s, 60s and 70s, I was somewhat (superstitiously?) struck by the proportionately high number of Sylphs that sailed into deeply troubled waters in those decades.

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Vic Jurskis. The principles of monitoring animal numbers are no different for koalas or beetles. Monitoring should not be an end. But the first step should always be to look at historical information. They are irruptive animals which sometimes occur in plagues. Koalas and Christmas beetles have both gone through booms and busts in the same places at the same times for the same reasons ... ARR.News asked some further questions of Vic.

Proposed changes to poker machine gambling in NSW has caused angst amongst ClubsNSW members. The reforms have the support of the NSW Liberal party, the Greens and also independent Member for Murray, Helen Dalton.

With Santa’s reindeer still a no show and the sleigh unable to power itself, it was a Hino tilt tray to the rescue for the Moulamein present run. A generous donation started after Heather Theodoulou witnessed the biggest flood on record isolating the town.

When Moulamein local, Shantal Sherman, was diagnosed with breast cancer in August of this year, it was the last thing she expected to hear ... What she didn’t expect to have to do was travel for basic follow up wound care, when her hometown is supposed to have an operational, functional and staffed community health service ... Shantal said she can’t believe the deterioration in rural health care and the lack of empathy and concern shown for patients.

Local students have been acknowledged for their outstanding academic achievements in this year's HSC examinations. Some students from St Francis de Sales Regional College, Leeton, performed very well, resulting in the college gaining 14 mentions on the statewide merit list.

Anyone who wanders into Narrandera Showground on January 28 and 29 next year will be forgiven for thinking they have stumbled into a post-apocalyptic wasteland. A Weekend With Max Festival, based on the popular Mad Max genre movies will take place over two days.

Christmas is usually that time of year when people are in a giving frame of mind, with families and friends coming together to enjoy the holiday festivities. Unfortunately, a Christmas grinch has reared its ugly head, leaving bad taste in the mouth of Narrandera resident, Brett Deahm ... on two different occasions ... someone stole three inflatables ...