Road to Melbourne

A classic business axiom states, "Build it and they will stop and buy a Coke and maybe a postcard." This practice is in full bloom along the 800 km stretch of the Hume Highway between Sydney and Melbourne. One of several bizarre landmarks is the Big Merino (above) in Goulburn, built in 1985 and recently moved from its spot beside the 'old' Hume Highway. (A gaggle of nervous sales clerks said I was the 2nd paying customer in its new gift shop.) Merinos are drought resistant sheep and have been an agricultural mainstay in Goulburn since the 19th century. They're not usually 15 metres tall.
Traveling in Australia means coming across baffling collections of words, none more so than these in Gundagai.
Turns out a poem about a settler named Bullocky Bill included a reference about his dog crapping on the man's lunch (tucker) box. A monument was unveiled in 1932 as a tribute and a tiny tourist haven bloomed around it.
As the town of Holbrook is named after a WWI submarine commander, it naturally has the above-waterline structure of the HMAS Otway.
It's a long, straight stretch of roadway after crossing the Murray River into Victoria ....