RIVERLANDERS and visitors to the region now have the option for an “all year-round food and wine festival” thanks to the reopening of a local transport service.
The Amazon Shuttle Bus Service has recommenced regular operations to venues in the Renmark Paringa district – while also launching a new Food and Wine Tours service – following a six month break due to COVID-19 restrictions.
The Amazon Shuttle Bus Service operator Garry ‘Hoffy’ Hoffmann said measures to reduce the risks of spreading COVID-19 will be in place for drivers and passengers.
“Our service will provide transport to and fro from all of our sponsor venues as in the past, but with a greater attention to hygiene and general orderly detail,” Hoffy said.
“This includes the registration of all passenger details, for records required by our operations plan.
“With co-operation we will all get through this together.”
Hoffy said allowing customers to create their own tours of Riverland wine and food venues would maximise tourism benefits across the region.
“Everyone’s missed the opportunity to go out,” he said.
“Even though we’ve lost a lot of tourists, there are still a lot of local people who will use the service to benefit all the businesses.
“By spreading our wings to do the tours throughout the whole Riverland, we’re not only sharing tourism around the whole Riverland, we’re sharing our service with the entire region.
“People from Barmera might want to have a trip for the day, or I can pick people up from Waikerie for a day tour. We can do that now with the tour arrangement, because they book the bus for the day.”
Hoffy advised Riverlanders that bookings – either made online or by phone – would be essential to using the tour service.
“We need to operate by bookings, because it’s the only way we can time our day,” he said.
“We’ve got to make sure we’ve got enough time to clean the bus, pick people up and service their needs, then get back and clean the bus before picking the next group up.
“With co-operation and patience, we can deal with it. That way we can have the service available to people and everyone will benefit.”
Hoffy said a newly launched website for the business would provide customers information on all possible destinations.
“Having our own website will be exciting and convenient for people to explore the services we are offering,” he said.
“It will also contain information about our sponsors, allowing customers to research and helping them find where they would like to visit ahead of booking our service.”
For further information and booking inquiries visit The Amazon Shuttle Bus Service website (theamazonrun.com.au), Facebook page, or phone 0408 816 533.

Surprise Food and Wine Tours venues: