The Big Merino is a tall concrete

merino The Merino is a breed or group of breeds of domestic sheep, characterised by very fine soft wool. It was established in Spain near the end of the Middle Ages, and was for several centuries kept as a strict Spanish monopoly; exports of the bree ...

ram Ram, ram, or RAM may refer to: Animals * A male sheep * Ram cichlid, a freshwater tropical fish People * Ram (given name) * Ram (surname) * Ram (director) (Ramsubramaniam), an Indian Tamil film director * RAM (musician) (born 1974), Dutch * ...

, located in

Goulburn Goulburn ( ) is a regional city in the Southern Tablelands of the Australian state of New South Wales, approximately south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Canberra. It was proclaimed as Australia's first inland city through letters pate ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, Australia. Nicknamed "Rambo" by locals, the Big Merino contains a gift shop on the ground floor and a

wool Wool is the textile fibre obtained from sheep and other mammals, especially goats, rabbits, and camelids. The term may also refer to inorganic materials, such as mineral wool and glass wool, that have properties similar to animal wool. As ...

display on the second floor. Visitors can climb to the top and look out through the Merino's eyes to view the local area. The Big Merino was officially opened on 20 September 1985 at No.98 Hume St, Goulburn, approximately 800 metres north-east of its current location. In 1992, the

Hume Highway Hume Highway, inclusive of the sections now known as Hume Freeway and Hume Motorway, is one of Australia's major inter-city national highways, running for between Melbourne in the southwest and Sydney in the northeast. Upgrading of the route ...

bypassed Goulburn, which resulted in a loss of 40 busloads of tourists to the Big Merino complex per day. On 26 May 2007, the Big Merino was moved to a location closer to the Hume Highway to increase visitor numbers, and is now located near the freeway interchange at a service station. Today, a drive-through car wash occupies Rambo's original location. Image:Goulburnmerino1.JPG, The Big Merino Image:Goulburn Big Merino after being moved 10 June 2007.jpg, After the 2007 relocation Image:Goulburn Big Merino after being moved 10 June 2007 pic 2.jpg, Rambo's new home Image:BigMerinoGoulburn.jpg, In April 2009.

References

External links

www.bigmerino.com.au
{{coord, display=title, -34.7726, 149.691, type:landmark_region:AU Big things in New South Wales Tourist attractions in New South Wales Buildings and structures in Goulburn, New South Wales Animal sculptures in Australia Concrete sculptures in Australia 1985 sculptures 1985 establishments in Australia Sheep in art

See also

References

External links