International Spotlight: World's Largest Axe

Nackawic, New Brunswick, Canada


Photo by blamstur.

We head back to Canada for another International Spotlight. The town of Nackawic, New Brunswick received the title of Forestry Capital of Canada in 1991. The giant axe was built to honor that and, as the bronze plaque reads, it "symbolizes the importance of the forest industry, past, present and future, to the Town of Nackawic and the Province of New Brunswick."

From what I can gather, it seems to be about 60 feet tall (I've also seen it listed at 49 feet and 66 feet.), is 23 feet wide, and weighs about 7 tons. Also, there may or may not be a time capsule in the axe head.

Town of Nackawic.

International Spotlight: Pineapples

Photo by BelizeSquare

This giant pineapple is 16 meters tall and is located at The Big Pineapple, which is a tourist attraction and working farm near Nambour, Queensland, Australia. They have tours, rides, shops, restaurants, and exhibits. I believe you can go inside the pineapple and get a view from the top. There is some history behind the attraction on Wikipedia.

There is another giant pineapple not too far away in Gympie at a vacant gas station. It looks to rival The Big Pineapple in size. I don't know the size of this one, though.


The Gympie pineapple circa 2005. Photo by drewish.

Bathurst, South Africa claims to have the "biggest Pineapple in the World!" This one measures 16.7 meters high and has 3 floors, complete with a gift shop, and an observation deck.


Bathurst pineapple. Photo by philrickerby.

This awesome building exists somewhere in Thailand between Cha-am and Phuket. That's all I've been able to find out.


Photo by Master Matt

Lastly, but not leastly, here is a less huge pineapple in the Philippines.

International Spotlight: World's Largest Dinosaur

Drumheller, Alberta, Canada


Photo by Tall Meds

This T-Rex is billed as the World's Largest Dinosaur, and it's an easy claim to believe. She stands 86 feet tall, is 151 feet long, and weighs 145,000 pounds. There is a viewing platform in the mouth of the giant T-Rex and costs $3 CDN admission. On the way up there are murals and fossil displays.

Drumheller is about a 90 minute drive northeast of Calgary. Drumheller also proclaims itself the Dinosaur Capital of the World and the Heart of the Canadian Badlands.

Here is some YouTube video of the World's Largest dinosaur.


more info

International Spotlight: Giant Lobster

Larry the Lobster
Kingston South East, South Australia


Photo by Johnsyweb

He is 18.2 meters tall, which is roughly 59 feet, and he is made out of fiberglass. Kingston SE is one of the best lobster fishing areas in all of Australia.

Tip: If you are visiting Kingston SE, order the lobster. I got a hunch that it's good.

International Spotlight

I realize that I haven't been posting as often. I will try to change that. It takes a little more time and effort to research for posts about "Fallen Heroes" or music than it does for posts about places we have visited, because, for the stuff we have visited, I have done most of the research beforehand. We are working on plans for a little Big Stuff trip in March, so stay tuned folks. I also would like some more variety than Fallen Heroes, music, music, Fallen Heroes, and the occasional map in my posts between visits. That brings me to my newest addition, International Spotlight.

I will be featuring various big stuffs from outside of the U.S. We aren't the only ones that love big stuff. Just look to our north. Canadians are quite big stuff crazy. While a lot of these posts may come from Canada, there are other nations as well that enjoy their big stuff like Australia, New Zealand, and Germany. So let's get it started.

Chuck the Channel Cat
Selkirk, Manitoba, Canada


Photo by ehmeelu

Chuck is a catfish, is 25 feet tall, and was built in 1986 out of fiberglass. Chuck was built in an attempt to promote tourism to the town. Selkirk is located just north of Winnipeg on the Red River. Selkirk is also home to a large ox cart. Crookston, MN claims to have the World's Largest Ox Cart. The World's Largest Catfish is also on the Red River in Whapeton, ND.



Time for a perfect cross-over post. I am going to add a song to the soundtrack list. I had meant to include it in the fish theme post, but forgot to, and it ties in perfectly with this post.

Please Come Back - by Catfish Haven

The band name alone warrants a spot on the soundtrack. Plus, they are pretty good, so I couldn't deny them. I chose this song because I'm sure the towns that build big stuff would like you to come back again for another visit. I also considered Crazy for Leaving. This is the perfect cross-over post because of the fish theme of the last music post, the catfish thing, and the fact that Catfish Haven are signed to the Simply Canadian record label (even though they are from Chicago).

You can hear both of these songs at Catfish Haven's MySpace page.