Australia’s ‘most beautiful’ street fed up with viral fame

Viral posts of an Australian street dubbed the country’s “most beautiful” have enticed coachloads of visitors to a picturesque seaside town — and locals have had enough of it. Just a two-hour drive south of Sydney, Gerringong is much like many other photogenic hamlets along Australia’s east coast, with multi-million-dollar properties set against stunning views of the azure blue sea.

But recent posts on Instagram, TikTok and as far afield as China’s RedNote showing the town’s Tasman Drive have left residents fuming that their little slice of paradise has turned into an internet sensation. “It’s getting beyond a joke for a small country town,” Peter Hainsworth, 81, told AFP as tourists frolicked on the rolling hills nearby. “You’ve got people who are trying to do three-point turns, they’re standing in the middle of the road taking photographs, they’re leaving their rubbish. “Everyone’s fed up.”

Nearby, tourists posed in the middle of the road for selfies to the fury of a sweary local resident on a bicycle who declined to speak. Overtourism concerns have sparked backlash in many hotspots worldwide, from European cities Barcelona and Venice to Japan — where officials erected a barrier to block a popular view of Mount Fuji in 2024 because of the disruptive behaviour of unruly tourists.

Some Gerringong residents have resorted to extreme measures, turning on garden sprinklers to prevent tourists from taking pictures on their lawns. Others are setting up a committee to demand the road be declared a one-way street — a bid to halt the seemingly endless stream of cars slowing to a halt as they film the viral view.

One neighbour reportedly sold their house to escape the furor. “It’s nice to see people enjoying it, but really, it’s just getting a bit too much,” resident Linda Bruce, 76, said on a hill next to the viral view.

“It’s just so weird to see so many people coming all this way for the view.” Thanks to the massive reach of the posts, which have racked up millions of views, tourists have come from across Asia — an “unusual” sight in Gerringong, Bruce said. “I mean, it’s an amazing country, and it’s there to share... it’s just a bit much for the locals.”

Some of the tourists have had less far to travel. Sagar Munjal, a 28-year-old taxi driver living in Parramatta, near Sydney, drove down with friends to see the view after spotting it on Instagram. “My eyes were totally stunned,” he said. “You can enjoy the coastal drive with the beach plus beautiful mountains.” “I was amazed to see that.” Andy Liao, a property developer originally from Chengdu, China who now lives in Sydney, told AFP he and his family had driven down after seeing the street on RedNote. “The landscape is so beautiful,” he said. “That’s why I drove two hours.”

But Andy said he understood why locals might be annoyed with the attention. “If I’m living here, I don’t want too many people coming to my backyard.”

Others were less sympathetic to the residents’ plight. Kevin Medina, a 22-year-old cook from Colombia, provoked a string of expletives from one local when he took selfies on the roadside.

“They should be really happy, because are they getting more people to know this beautiful place.”

Chief among the locals’ complaints is that the tourists are not spending money in the area — they simply show up, snap their selfies and leave. Deputy mayor and local business owner Melissa Matters told AFP the financial impact was mixed. “Some businesses are experiencing not a lot of uptake,” but others “are doing quite well out of it”, she said.

And while many residents had moved down from the big city seeking a quiet life, Matters said Gerringong was hardly a stranger to outsiders. “We’ve always been about tourism here.”

Back on Tasman Drive, tourists excitedly posed for pictures next to a speed bump sign as a grumbling resident glared at them.

“You sort of wonder, why are they doing this?” Bruce said.

“Is it because they really, really love the area and think it’s so wonderful to see the view, or are they just ticking off another box on their to-do list?”

Agence France-Presse