The Big Rocking Horse - Gumeracha, South Australia
Posted by: 
bucketeer
S 34° 49.260 E 138° 53.517
54H E 307203 N 6144781
One very large rocking horse
Waymark Code: WMGDXQ
Location: South Australia, Australia
Date Posted: 02/20/2013
Views: 32
The Big Rocking Horse weighs 25 tonnes and stands at over 18 metres tall, and is one of a number of Big Things in Australia designed to attract the attention of passing motorists. It is part of a larger complex that includes a wooden toy factory, wildlife park and cafe which had been owned by the Wilkinson family since the early 1970s, and while the complex was sold in 2004, and again in 2009, it continues to operate today.
In 1973, after opening a wooden toy factory in Gumeracha, owner Wal Wilkinson chose to incorporate a large roadside attraction to the site in order to attract passing traffic. The first of these was a large wooden giraffe which stood at approximately five metres in height. This was subsequently replaced by a series of rocking horses: a three metre tall horse giving way to a five metre model, before the process culminated in the decision to build the Big Rocking Horse. The resulting 18.3 metre tall structure was designed by David McIntosh and John Twopenny, and it was opened in 1981 after eight months of construction and an investment of $100,000.
The Big Rocking Horse is recorded in the Guinness Book of Records
Price of Admission: 2.00 (listed in local currency)
Height of object in feet: 60
Size of a typical object of this: 3
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