Big

Stuart and I left Katoomba and went on a winding drive around the countryside to Canberra. Travelling the back roads took us nearly double the time it takes from Sydney which was 5 and a half hours. We passed through many small towns some with only a main street, few weatherboard houses and very little visible commercial activity, school or even a post office.

My favourites were Hartley with its lushness and rolling hills and the historic village of Oberon which had lots of sandstone houses and a couple of pubs, a saddlery, 2 churches and even a Freemason's hall. The town dates back to the early English settlers and apparently gold-mining brought people and money to the region.

We popped out onto the main highway in Goulburn known as the 'lilac city' and for many years now, it has also been famous for the Big Merino.

In Australia there are many big things, considered folk art and some of which have been heritage listed. Among others there is the big prawn, big banana, big pineapple, big ant, big beer can, big avocado, big bench, big cheese, big guitar and so on. These usually take up prime position on a major highway somewhere between destinations and are often a feature of road trips.

The National Museum in Canberra has a multimedia exhibit that features many of the iconic big things and the national broadcaster ABC even made a documentary titled what else but 'Big Things'.

In 2007 a 50c postage stamp series was issued featuring some of the big things. The Big Merino was one of the 5 featured. It lives in Goulburn.