Big Merino

The Big Merino is a 15.2-metre (50 ft) tall concrete statue of a merino ram located in Goulburn, New South Wales, Australia. It was modelled after Rambo, a stud ram that lived on a local property, “Bullamallita”.^[1]

Big Merino
The Big Merino in 2011
Completion date	1985; 40 years ago (1985)
Medium	Concrete
Subject	Merino
Dimensions	15.2 m (50 ft) tall, 18 m (59 ft) long
Weight	97 tonnes (95 long tons; 107 short tons)
Location	Goulburn, New South Wales, Australia

The Big Merino was built near the Hume Highway (Cowper Street) in 1985.^[2] The complex was opened in Cowper Street, on 20 September 1985 by John Brown who was the federal minister for sport, recreation and tourism. The idea was originally conceived by brothers Attila and Louis Mokany. The Big Merino was constructed by Adelaide builder Glenn Senner and took six months to build. The frame is steel, covered and shaped with wire mesh, sprayed and detailed in reinforced concrete. The architect was Gary Dutallis.^[3]

In 1992 the highway rerouted to bypass the town of Goulburn, which resulted in 40 fewer busloads of tourists visiting the Big Merino each day.^[4] On 26 May 2007, the Big Merino was moved to a location closer to the new Hume Highway to increase visitor numbers, and is now located near the freeway interchange at a service station.^[5]

Inside the Big Merino is a gift shop, an exhibition on the history of wool in Australia, and an observatory in the ram's eyes.^[6]

See also

• New South Wales portal

• Australia's big things
• List of world's largest roadside attractions