A red double-decker London bus has been spotted so far from home, taking a group of enthusiastic travelers and locals on a tour of the little one N.S.W city of Bargo.
The surprising sight comes after research revealed almost 70 percent of cases Australians are choosing to stay close to home for shopping, dining and entertainment due to the rising cost of living.
And yet, nearly 50 percent of locals admit they don’t see anything like new restaurant openings or “hidden gems” in their area.
Enter IGA store manager Kassia Minassian and her ‘big red bus’ which offered shoppers a unique opportunity to explore their local suburb like never before.
“There is so much more to Bargo than people realise, forget the Sydney Harbor Bridge, we have hidden gems everywhere,” Kassia said.
The free tour took place on Wednesday, October 2 and started at Khan’s Supa IGA Bargo, before visiting some of the city’s hotspots.
“The highlight of the bus was honestly seeing the entire community come out to support each other and see what the area has to offer,” Kassia, who has been a local for ten years, tells 9Travel.
“I saw the genuine smiles and heard people say, ‘I never knew that existed!’”
The tour featured many of Kassia’s favorites, including Hotel Bargo, which specializes in an “Aussie parmy” with a cracked egg, or Cedar Creek Orchard, which offers freshly squeezed apple juice on site and in store.
“The Australian Wildlife Sanctuary is home to some of the country’s most famous animals, from emus and wombats to adorable quokkas. They even offer private tours,” she says.
Pine Ridge Miniature Donkeys is another quirky place where you stay on a farm with donkeys, goats, alpacas, dogs and chickens.
“I think we need to see if we can bring it back somehow because the feedback has been so overwhelmingly positive,” Kassia says.
More people are visiting NSW regions
New figures show NSW’s visitor economy is growing. There were 101.6 million domestic and international visitors to NSW in the year ending June 2024.
Sydney was the number one Australian capital for visitors and Regional NSW was the most popular destination in regional Australia in the year ending June 2024, with 65.4 million international and domestic visitors.
NSW has also been crowned the country’s road trip capital, according to the latest data from Tourism Research Australia.
NSW was the number one destination in Australia for visitors, overnight stays and spend in the year ending December 2023. There were 3.4 million domestic road trip visitors to NSW in the period, up 2.8 per cent year-on-year.