The three-and-a-half hour trek over the mountains and into the Sydney basin is nothing, really, when it comes to time in a car for people in regional cities, but it has for a long time been a hurdle often too great to leap for those on the other side of the sandstone curtain.

But COVID-19 has changed a lot of things in our world, and that perception may well be one of them.

You only had to have a look across Orange on the weekend to see that.

No vacancy signs were up across town on the weekend, and the main street was humming as people from metro areas ventured west to both spend their time and money in regional NSW.

It's not a new push, getting those living in Sydney to travel west to help bush economies.

But now more than ever it's seemingly at the forefront of everyone's mind when they consider getting out and about post-lockdown.

The lack of interstate travel, and the absense of overseas trips on everyone's radar for the foreseeable future, would be the biggest influence.

Right now, no one would be travelling to Victoria and it's nearly easier getting to Mars than it is crossing the boarder into Queensland, so inter-state travel it is.

But why Orange?

The city has regulalry featured on weekend morning shows in the last month, highlighting the region's food and wine.

Sure it's cold, but the chance of snow and tackling some of the area's well-known bush treks when the air is brisk is something those in the city rarely get the chance to experience while living in western Sydney.

While champion Orange tenpin bowler Jason Belmonte was also on national television recently, and as far as ambassadors for your city goes there's none better, on a national or international level, than Belmo.

There's then our housing market too, which continues to go from strength-to-strength.

House prices have risen 10 per cent in the last year.

That growth would be helped by the fact tree-changers are eyeing off Orange as a chance for a lifestyle change, and Professionals Orange real estate agent Alistair Miller told us as much last week.

Exposure is the key. And getting Orange in the forefront of people's minds is helping make that 250km gap between the city and our slice of the bush seem non-existent.