The Big Strawberry, pictured here with owner Tarn Hayes, has made its way into a national coin collection in time for its 20th birthday year.
Photo by
Owen Sinclair
The Big Strawberry will soon be drawing attention across the nation, after it found itself on a newly minted set of gold coins and stamp.
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The roadside attraction in Koonoomoo, which this year turned 20, has been printed alongside nine other ‘big things’ on the Royal Australian Mint’s latest coin collection, celebrating the Australian landmarks that make road trips special.
Big Strawberry owner Tarn Hayes said having the outsized aggregate accessory fruit part of the collection wasn’t something you would expect to happen in day-to-day business.
“It makes you very proud, but also it’s a very humbling experience as well,” she said.
Mrs Hayes was approached by the Royal Australian Mint and Australia Post about two years ago about having the Big Strawberry on the coins.
But even so, seeing the coins in person was something else altogether.
At six metres tall and five metres in diameter, the Big Strawberry was installed when the café opened in February 2005.
Competition Kayaks in Cobram made the fibreglass shell, while the internal steel structure was fabricated in Shepparton.
Since then, the attraction has weathered the elements, even surviving a tornado that up-ended it during wild weather in 2013.
The coins will be available individually or in a collection from Australia Post stores.
Photo by
Contributed
It is joined by other ‘big things’ in the collection, including the Big Prawn in Ballina, the Big Mango in Bowen and the Big Merino in Goulburn.
“The best part about this — being on the coin and all that sort of stuff — is it enhances what goes on in our area, and hopefully will bring more people to our area so we can showcase what we have,” Mrs Hayes said.
“We live in an amazing part of the world, and it should be shared.”
One in every 10 collections contains an exclusive coloured Big Strawberry coin.
The collections are available to purchase from Australia Post stores.
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