Move over, Sea Cliff Bridge - Gerringong street has the world talking
Just when you thought the Illawarra’s most loved street couldn’t get more famous, it just did!
This week The New York Times has published a feature on Tasman Drive in Gerringong, which is being described across the world as one of the prettiest streets on the planet.
New York Times journalist Laura Chung visited Gerringong recently to see what all the fuss is about, joining thousands of people every week who make the pilgrimage into the back streets of the once-sleepy village in an effort to capture the perfect Instagram or TikTok image.
The fame of Tasman Drive has created a mixed reaction around town. Businesses have noticed a welcome uptick in trade with the sudden influx of visitors, but those living in Tasman Drive and surrounding streets have described the traffic and pedestrian gridlock as a nightmare.
Kiama Council has discussed the problem and additional monitoring of driver behaviour and parking chaos has been instigated.
Councillors are no doubt shocked that they’d ever see the day when the municipality’s best-loved tourist attraction, Kiama’s famous Blowhole, has been eclipsed by a small suburban street that no-one had heard of 12 months ago.
Such is the power of social media these days that international visitors are including Gerringong on their Aussie travel bucket list, together with the Sydney Opera House, Uluru and the Great Barrier Reef.
Journalist Laura Chung writes “for many years Tasman Drive in Gerringong was a secret held by locals. Now residents must coexist with tourists hungry for the perfect shot.
“It’s easy to see the tourists on Tasman Drive. Their cars move slowly down the residential street as passengers dangle phones out of the window, trying to get the perfect shot. They pose in front of tripods in the middle of the road, or pore over smartphones and analyse their selfies.
Laura writes “for the past 12 months, tourists have swarmed there, posting thousands of videos on Instagram and TikTok.
“Multimillion-dollar properties line one side of Tasman Drive, but the other side of the road is the main attraction. A large stretch of grass offers a vantage point down to rolling green hills that frame the ocean. If you stand in the middle of the street, the bay seems to swallow the road," Laura writes in her New York Times feature piece.
Since it opened in December 2005, the Sea Cliff Bridge near Stanwell Park has reigned supreme as this region’s most eye-catching and talked-about stretch of road.
Who‘d have ever thought a tiny back street in Gerringong would challenge as the place everyone wants to be photographed at? #Gerringong
