There’s so much to celebrate about life in the Riverina. Catch up on some of 2025’s most popular stories, featuring animals, collectors, art and adventurers.
14. From hooves to handlebars: Burrumbuttock farmer trades herds for hairpin bends
by Vanessa Hayden
Marion and Andrew Vile have traded paddocks for pedals and are geared up to take you off the beaten track and explore cycle trails anywhere from the Murray River region to the High Country of the Upper Murray. Photo: Vanessa Hayden.
Burrumbuttock’s Andrew Vile is not quite sure how he’s gone from sheep and cattle farmer to tourism operator.
He scratches his head at the question but admits he’s happy he’s set the wheels in motion on a hobby he has enjoyed with his wife Marion for more than two decades.
Andrew and Marion have launched AV Cycling Tours and if you can’t find them somewhere on their 1100-hectare property in between Burrumbuttock and Howlong, you’ll find them traversing back roads, rail trails and bike tracks anywhere from Benalla to Tumbarumba.
13. Former Jerilderie resident with MS climbs two volcanoes, documents experience in new book
by Oliver Jacques
Kat Finnerty in Vanuatu, where she made the most of being stranded. Photo: Supplied.
A former Jerilderie resident suffering from the chronic illness multiple sclerosis (MS) has climbed two volcanoes in Vanuatu and documented her experience in a new book.
Kat Finnerty, 52, is a Canadian-born writer who came to Australia as a backpacker in her 20s. She settled here before being diagnosed with MS, a chronic disease that attacks the central nervous system.
In 1998, she moved to Jerilderie, where she ran a sports centre, lived for 20 years and was able to turn her life around with the help of the local community.
12. Popular global website rates Griffith among most underrated towns in NSW
by Oliver Jacques
Winery owner Bill Calabria outside the Big Wine Barrel, one of Griffith’s most recognisable tourist attractions. World Atlas highlighted Calabria Wines as one of the town’s acclaimed vineyards. Photo: Oliver Jacques.
A geographical website read by an estimated 165 million people across the globe each year has rated Griffith one of the eight most underrated towns in NSW.
World Atlas lavished praise on the irrigation town, describing it as “unique” and “distinguished by its strong Italian heritage and flourishing wine industry”.
11. From Kooringal High to Broadway: Marg Horwell claims top costume gong at prestigious Tony Awards
by Jarryd Rowley
Marg Horwell has won a Tony Award for her costumes in The Picture of Dorian Gray. Photo: Dorian Gray play.
Wagga’s own Marg Horwell has claimed one of the performing arts’ biggest gongs at theatre’s night of nights, the Tony Awards.
Ms Horwell claimed the award for Best Costume Design of a Play for The Picture of Dorian Gray, starring fellow Australian and Succession star Sarah Snook, on a night that the seamstress described as “overwhelming and incredible”.
10. Adventurer returns to Griffith after 30,000-km bike ride across Russia, Eastern Europe and Silk Road
by Oliver Jacques
Tommy Caragilo stayed in yurts when biking through Mongolia. Photo: Supplied.
A Yoogali resident who set off on an overland motorbike ride from Italy to Japan has returned to Griffith after completing a different and longer route than he originally planned.
Italian forklift mechanic Tommy Caragilo caught a ferry from Italy to Greece in May 2024 then set off on his Honda Transalp 600cc through to Turkey, Georgia, Iran, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Russia and Mongolia.
9. Yarrangobilly thermal pool gets a thoroughly modern makeover
by Edwina Mason
The Yarrangobilly caves and pools attract around 50,000 visitors annually. Photo: Paul Sims/NPWS.
For decades, the Yarrangobilly Caves Thermal Pool has been a well-loved escape, tucked within the rugged beauty of Kosciuszko National Park where mineral-rich waters – a constant 27 degrees Celsius year-round – have soothed weary travellers and intrigued adventure seekers.
But for all its natural splendour, the experience had long been hindered by outdated facilities, difficult pathways and a lack of accessibility – until now.
A sweeping $1m upgrade, funded by the NSW Department of Planning and Open Spaces 2022-23 Places to Swim program, has transformed the site, offering not just aesthetic improvements but a reimagined visitor experience.
8. Lake Road Veterinary Clinic to a South African reserve: This former cop turned vet nurse is living the dream!
by Jarryd Rowley
TAFE Digital vet nursing graduate Belinda Coleman (left) during a “life-changing” trip to South Africa recently. Photo: Supplied.
After two decades as a crime scene investigator, Lake Albert mum Belinda Coleman decided to make a career change. Two years after enrolling in a TAFE NSW course she has now travelled the world as a veterinary nurse.
7. ‘Whitie’ the Estella magpie confirmed as albino – so what does that mean for the bird? And will it still swoop?
by Erin Hee
A close-up of the “one in a million” albino magpie, Whitie. Photo: Sarah Robinson.
It’s confirmed – the “one in a million” magpie making the rounds in Estella is albino.
Previously, we were left hanging not knowing whether the bird nicknamed ‘Whitie’ by locals is actually albino or just simply blonde, but the latest sighting of the feathered celebrity in Boorooma confirmed our suspicions.
6. ‘Vantastic’ news as Kyle delivers on promise to Culcairn’s Australian Idol rock queen
by Jodie O’Sullivan
Australian Idol runner-up Iilysh Retallick, from Culcairn, with the brand new van judge Kyle Sandilands promised to buy her if she didn’t win the reality television singing series. Photo: Supplied.
Australian Idol judge Kyle Sandilands has made good on his promise to buy Culcairn’s rock queen her own van if she didn’t win the 2025 reality television singing show.
The now 18-year-old Iilysh Retallick thought she was off on a trip to the snow with her boyfriend John Van Beek when the new wheels rolled up outside the Culcairn bakery while the couple were having breakfast on 30 June.
5. Dance prodigy to TV star: Griffith’s Jake Sergi to feature in hit series
by Oliver Jacques
Jake Sergi is to add TV star to his bio after an incredible experience in London. Photo: Oliver Jacques.
Teenage Griffith dancer Jake Sergi will feature on the second season of the hit TV show Dance Life, after being filmed and interviewed while he was on an exclusive bootcamp in London.
In March 2025, he was accepted into Sydney’s elite performing arts studio Brent Street, where he auditioned to be selected for Project 10, a fully funded dance trip to the UK.
“They only chose 10 of us out of hundreds of Brent Street students and alumni. I was the youngest chosen,” Jake said.
4. Painting with watercolour helped this digger find life after the army
by Chris Roe
Hugh Semple has opened his own gallery in the Riverina village of Oura. Photo: Supplied.
When a training accident brought Hugh Semple’s Army career to a sudden end, he found it tough to adjust to life out of uniform. An impulse to buy a handful of paints gave him renewed purpose and has led to a burgeoning career as an artist with his own gallery in the Riverina village of Oura.
“They call it adjustment disorder,” Hugh said, explaining the difficult transition to civilian life.
3. Life is beautiful for former Wagga nurse after satisfying salon launch
by Erin Hee
Britnee Martin opened her own beauty salon, Mirror & Me, after a ”heartbreaking” dispute at a previous workplace. Photos: Erin Hee.
What started out as a bit of a rant while having her eyebrows done has culminated in a former Wagga nurse starting her own beauty salon.
Britnee Martin was a community nurse for seven years before taking a leap of faith to become a beautician.
2. Super-find: Wagga collectors unearth more than 2300 vintage comics in unit purchase
by Jarryd Rowley
Buried Treasure & Collectables owner Josh Light recently secured more than 2300 comics from a storage shed, including his favourite: a Howard the Duck issue featuring The Hulk and Doctor Strange. Photo: Jarryd Rowley.
Sifting through storage containers in search of a piece of proverbial gold may sound like the plot of a reality TV show, but for Josh Light and the team at Buried Treasure & Collectables, it’s exactly what they do.
While their small shop at 9 Railway Street, Wagga Wagga, has always had some wild and whacky items from yesteryear, it is one of their most recent finds that has people talking.
Josh said he recently bid for a storage unit, knowing there were a few comics in there as well. But he didn’t expect to find more than 2000.
1. Lifetime of clothes and memories stored for decades reawakened as vintage fashion treasures
by Jodie O’Sullivan
Every piece tells a story, says Albury mum Emma Jensen, who has helped a friend sort through a lifetime of memories to start up the Albury-based online Perpetual Vintage venture. Photo: Supplied.
Two Albury friends discovered a forgotten fashion legacy that was buried in boxes for decades, and they are now giving vintage treasures a new lease of life.
