New South Wales Archives

Ageing Like Fine Wine

Meet Angus Vinden, a Hunter Valley winemaker who’s blending grapes with creativity, tradition with irreverence, and winemaking with… self-portraits? Vinden’s wine labels feature a photograph of him, taken every year, showing the toll, the triumph, or whatever the season had to throw at him. The result? A label that’s as much a snapshot of his…

23 hours agoByNatasha Bazika

The Best Kitsch Motels in Regional Victoria & NSW

The classic country motel is not only a nostalgic road-trip classic and often one of the few remaining untouched examples of the aesthetics of times gone by, but also a more affordable way to travel throughout regional Australia. Although there are many more hidden gems around and certainly a lot of renovated mid-century motels that are…

30 October 2024ByEm Jensen

New South Wales

This Is My First Rodeo

The tiny outback town of Tibooburra, renowned for being the hottest place in NSW, hosts an annual gymkhana, bikekhana and rodeo each Spring. As a fresh-to-the-outback, former city-slicker, I had to know whether the rodeo experience lived up to my romantic yet uninformed idea of it: a blur of line dancing, cowboy boots and something…

16 October 2024ByEm Jensen

Events New South Wales

Parkes Elvis Festival Returns for 2025 with 1960s Flair

Get ready to shake, rattle, and roll—Parkes Elvis Festival is back for its 32nd year, running from 8–12 January 2025. With the theme Easy Come, Easy Go, the festival promises a groovy tribute to Elvis Presley’s 1960s era, packed with concerts, markets, and some exciting new surprises. More than 25,000 Elvis fans are expected to…

2 October 2024ByBen Tyers

Events New South Wales

Broken Heel’s Fiery Farewell (For Now)

When you think of a remote outback town famed for its history of mining and unionism, visuals of drag queens dancing on a giant stiletto float, parading down the main street probably isn’t what comes to mind. But in celebration of Priscilla Queen of The Desert’s ‘dirty thirtieth’ birthday this year, that’s exactly what you’d have witnessed…

11 September 2024ByEm Jensen

New South Wales

An Outback Adventurer’s Guide to Tibooburra

In the very north-western corner of New South Wales, in an area aptly named Corner Country, is a place that seems to tick all the boxes of the classic, quintessentially Australian outback town—Tibooburra. Its tiny main drag features a ‘Corner Country’ store and servo, two pubs whose front beer gardens look out onto one another,…

5 August 2024ByEm Jensen

New South Wales

The Best Small Towns to Visit in New South Wales

We're is all about shining a light on the often overlooked and underappreciated country regions of our great nation, and after spotlighting some of the best small towns in South Australia and Victoria, it’s New South Wales time to shine. Similar to other eastern regions of the country, the ‘Premier State’ has everything from snow-topped…

1 August 2024ByTobias Handke

Events New South Wales

Newcastle Music Festival Returns with Diverse Program

For ten days, Newcastle will be home to top-notch Australian and international musical talent for the Newcastle Music Festival. Now in its seventh season—after two years’ hiatus in 2020 and 2021—the 2024 program will run from Thursday, 8 August to Friday, 23 August 2024. With 13 events across three locations, lovers of classical music, opera,…

1 August 2024ByRachel Fieldhouse

New South Wales Pubs

Inside the Iconic Pub With the Tallest Bar in the Southern Hemisphere

The Black Stump Hotel, an unassuming pub in Merriwagga, New South Wales is shrouded in outback mythology and local folklore. There’s the tale of how the pub got its name; a woman named Barbara Blaine who burned alive in 1886 in the area, whose husband reportedly said “looked like a black stump”, or it could be because the surrounding area is known colloquially as “Black…

22 June 2024ByEm Jensen

Food & Drink New South Wales

From Take Away to Tourist Destination: Niagara Cafe’s Revival Brings History and Brunch to Gundagai

Click on smaller images below to see them in full size. Along the Hume Highway between Sydney and Melbourne sits one of Australia’s few remaining original Greek diners; the Niagara Cafe. The cafe, which was established in 1902, was recently purchased by Sydney couple Luke Walton and Kym Fraser who spent a year restoring the…

20 May 2024ByEm Jensen

Food & Drink History New South Wales

Milkshakes, Memories, and More: Bell’s Milk Bar in Pictures

On Thursday mornings the Indian Pacific train stops at the outback town of Broken Hill and travellers are invited on a tour; starting with scones, tea and coffee, milkshakes and spiders at Bell’s Milk Bar. A few local actors even dress up in fifties garb and perform a skit for the fascinated travellers, dancing to…

23 April 2024ByEm Jensen

Events New South Wales

Murray River’s Moama Lights Will Return in 2024

Moama Lights is set to light up the mighty Murray River once again in 2024, with tickets soon available for purchase. At the 2023 event—which was shortened due to flooding—the sound and light trail, created and produced by world-class design studio Mandylights, took visitors on a journey through the natural beauty of Echuca-Moama via state-of-the-art…

30 October 2023ByJohn Taylor

New South Wales

Gold Prospecting in NSW, Where to Strike it Rich

In the tapestry of time, the allure of gold continues to captivate us, with the precious metal's value soaring to well over $2,600 for an ounce in the vast expanse of the Australian continent. Reflecting on the mid-90s, one can vividly recall the news anchors' solemn reports on gold prices, which then stood at a…

24 September 2023ByThe Editor

New South Wales

The Best Spots to Land Your Orange Picking Job in Griffith

If you're seeking an exciting harvest job opportunity in Australia, look no further than the charming region of Griffith in New South Wales. Nestled in the heart of the Murrumbidgee region, Griffith offers a plethora of orange-picking jobs and a thriving agricultural community. Griffith's appeal lies in its diverse harvest season, offering a wide range…

29 May 2023ByBen Tyers

Agriculture New South Wales Victoria

Why Mildura Is a Grape-Growing, Wine-Producing Mecca

Editor's note: Here at The Local Rag we aim to be as transparent as possible when covering all of the amazing things to see and do around regional Australia. For this story, the author travelled to Mildura on invitation from Duxton Vineyards to find out more about its Rewild range. When I think of Australia's…

16 May 2023ByBen Tyers

New South Wales

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