Hey Steemians!
I was inspired by @just2random to post my adventures visiting the "Big Thing's" around Australia!
In 2014 I went on a road trip up the East Coast of Australia with a few of my friends, starting from Melbourne, Victoria with a final destination of Byron Bay, New South Wales. The trip takes 17 hours straight and we were an unlikely group of friends - with me being the connecting link between them all. Chloe is a friend from high school, and Josh is a friend through mutual friends. But we were off to a cracking start!
About 2.5 hours into driving down the Hume Highway - which can take you pretty much the whole way from Melbourne to Byron - we saw a sign for the "Big Ned Kelly" that was at the next exit in a small town Glenrowan. We'd never even heard of this landmark before, so we of course made a detour and stopped. And we were not disappointed! Below is a selfie we got with Ned! Chloe is on the right, I am in the middle & Josh on the right.
Edward "Ned" Kelly (December 1854[a] – 11 November 1880) was an Australian bushranger, outlaw, gang leader and convicted police murderer. One of the last bushrangers, and by far the most famous, he is best-known for wearing a suit of bulletproof armour during his final shootout with the police.
Back onto the Hume Highway we went, there were many sing-a-longs and driving shifts until about 4.5 hours after the Big Ned Kelly. Another sign!!! The BIG MERINO RAM! Again - we had never heard of this, we didnt realise Australia had so many of these big novelty landmarks! So off the Hume Highway we go and into a little town called Goulburn!
The Big Merino is a 15.2 metres (50 ft) tall concrete merino ram, located in Goulburn, New South Wales, Australia. Nicknamed "Rambo" by locals, the Big Merino contains a gift shop on the ground floor and a wool display on the second floor. Visitors can climb to the top and look out through the Merino's eyes to view the local area.
Another Big Thing to tick off our list! Back on to the Hume we go. The next "Big Thing" on the list was The Big Banana in Coffs Harbour. This is a very well known "Big Thing" so we were expecting good things - I had actually already been there before but it was a first time for the others. This was about another 7.5 hours away from The Big Ram, plus we stopped overnight in a small town somewhere - I can't recall!
The Big Banana is a tourist attraction and amusement park in the city of Coffs Harbour, New South Wales, Australia. The grounds of the park are set amongst a banana plantation, featuring a large walk-through banana. Built in 1964, it was one of Australia's first Big Things. Other attractions include a downhill toboggan ride, ice skating rink, a water park and the World of Bananas educational experience. Plantation tours are also available.[1] On the evening of Australia Day 2014, a disused scenic lookout attraction was destroyed by fire.[2] In keeping with the plantation theme, banana-related products are shown or sold in the park which also boasts a souvenir shop and restaurant. In January 2014, during the peak tourist season the Big Banana received close to 150,000 visitors.[3]
After this we were heading to straight to Byron. Another friend - Lachlan, was meeting us a few days later and was flying into Ballina airport - which is about 50 minutes south of Byron Bay and we were gonna go pick him up! And guess what!
Theres another BIG THING in Ballina! "The Big Prawn"!
On 24 September 2009, Ballina Shire Council voted to allow the demolition of the Big Prawn,[22] but this permission was never acted upon. Bunnings Warehouse purchased the site in 2011 and refurbished the Prawn as part of the redevelopment. The prawn now sits on a stand next to the entrance of the Bunnings Warehouse carpark.
What an adventure visiting many of the Big Things in Australia. But it was not over!!
A few weeks I had a friend that I had met up in Byron, Elliot, come to visit me! I picked him up from the local station and we had planned to go into Melbourne city the next day for an adventure. The next day we woke up to this news:
THE BIG MANGO in Queensland had gone missing!?!?
This was big news!
Turns out it was a big advertisement for Nando's newest basting! Mango & Lime!
But the big Mango turned out to be in Melbourne the day Elliot and I were visiting - so The Big Things adventure continued!
I haven't visited any more Big Things in Australia since then, but would like to explore more in the future!
Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed this adventure!
Stay excellent!
Natt