More Big Things in Oz

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The Big Prawn 

Ballina NSW 

In 2009, Ballina Shire Council voted to allow the demolition of the Big Prawn, 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. 

The original Big Prawn was built in 1989 on top of a service station by brothers Attila and Louis Mokany, from Hungary, who developed service stations around NSW and decided to build big things to help attract road trippers to their business. The sculptures they built were a tribute to the main industries in each town. Goulburn got a big Merino ram, Taree a big oyster and Ballina got a big prawn. It was built to commemorate the local prawn industry but curiously was built without a tail. 

When it was to be demolished, thousands signed a petition to retain it. Bunnings listened and refurbished the prawn at a cost of $400,000. That’s one shrimp you don’t throw on the barbie. 

The big prawn being moved in 2012 to its new position. 

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The Big Rabbit Trap 

Albert, NSW (Albert is located in about the centre of NSW, 140km west of Dubbo). 

The Big Rabbit Trap adorns the top of the Rabbit Trap Hotel. It was constructed in 2013 and is the 

It is the brainchild of pub owner Neville Owen in an attempt to boost tourism to the town. The population of Albert is 11. 

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The Big Rocket 

Moree, NSW 

The Big Rocket was launched in 2009 during the International Year of Astronomy and the 40th anniversary of the first manned moon landing. It contains two slides and a space-themed command centre playground. 

Am I the only one who thinks that it looks suggestively like something else? 

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Big Rubik’s Cube 

Maroubra, NSW 

A cement cube painted as per a Rubik's Cube on top of a storm water drain on Maroubra Beach. Rumour has it that the concrete block was painted overnight by local artists. If so, it is in need of some maintenance . . . 

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The Big Spider 

Urana NSW (Urana is located near the southern border of NSW, near Jerilderie). 

The Big Spider (named "Not so Itsy" by the artist) was created by Andrew Whitehead, a nearby resident of the town. The spider commemorates the local football club, who were, for many years, known as the Spiders, and is built from a range of materials – including a wash tub and a hot dog muffler. 

Spiders creep me out, especially if I see a big Huntsman on the ceiling above my desk or bed, particularly when I am in it. 

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The Big Sundial 

Singleton, NSW 

This is a 25-foot high sundial presented as a gift from Lemington Mine, to honour the occasion of the Australian Bicentenary. At the time of its creation, it was recognised by the Guinness Book of World Records as the world's largest sundial, and still lays claim to being the largest one-piece sundial in the Southern hemisphere. 

(When something isn’t the biggest in the world, we like to make the parameters smaller by referring to it as being the biggest in the Southern hemisphere.) 

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The Big Tennis Racquet 

Barellan, NSW 

The Big Tennis Racquet erected in the Evonne Goolagong Park, Yapunyah Street, Barellan, was unveiled in October 2009 during the Barellan Centenary celebrations, as a tribute to the former Barellan local and great Australian tennis player, Evonne Goolagong Cawley. The completed racquet is an exact 20:1 scale model of Evonne's battered wooden signature Dunlop racquet. 

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The Big Trout 

Adaminaby NSW 

Designed by Andy Lomnici, the Big Trout is located in the town of Adaminaby, near Lake Eucumbene in the Snowy Mountains. Opened in 1973, the trout is built from fiberglass over a steel frame. Needless to say, Adaminaby is a popular trout fishing spot. 

In 2012 the work was repainted to celebrate the centenary of the Snowy River Shire. 

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Big Ugg Boots 

Thornton, NSW 

Mortels Sheepskin Factory is home to The Big Ugg Boots. These big ugg boots are 13 times the size of a women's US size 8 ugg boot. 

The Big Ugg Boots were erected Monday 20th April 2015. On Tuesday 21st April 2015, the Hunter Region was ravaged by the equivalent of a category 2 Cyclone. This storm brought devastating winds and rains to the region. The Big Ugg Boots, constructed from fibreglass and steel, weighing approximately 600 kilograms each, remained strong and fast despite the conditions immediately following their erection. 

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Big Wine Cask 

Mourquong, NSW (Mourquong is located on the Murray River just over the bridge from Mildura, Victoria). 

Located at the Constellation Stanley winery, as of December 2013 it is no longer there. The building is but it has been painted out. Sad in that Oz invented the wine cask. The process for packaging 'cask wine' (box wine) was invented by Thomas Angove of Angove's, a winemaker from Renmark, South Australia, and patented by the company on April 20, 1965. In 1967, Australian inventor Charles Malpas and Penfolds Wines patented a plastic, air-tight tap welded to a metallised bladder, making storage more convenient. All modern wine casks now use some sort of plastic tap, which is exposed by tearing away a perforated panel on the box. 

BTW:

Australian artist Norton Flavel inflated 'Bulk Carrier' on the waterfront of Cottesloe Beach in Perth, Western Australia, created for the 2014 Sculpture By the Sea: