Gumeracha Toy Factory, Adelaide

Took a day-tour into the Barossa Valley via Prime Mini Tours. It was A$48 each circa 2001.

The tour took out us through scenic views of the Torren Gorge, as well as a drop by Angus Park Dried Fruits to allow folks to load up on dried fruit (duh), nuts and chocolates.

Next stop - Australia's increasingly American obsession with things BIG (Compensating for what?): The Big Rocking Horse! I remembered as we drove round a bend in the road, the sun was momentarily obscured and there it was, a BIG rocking horse of a chair! It was, and still IS, the world's largest rocking horse. I was both amused and dumbfounded. Amused that heck, there it was. Dumbfounded cos' I still couldn't figure it out why would anyone want to build such a thing except to plague generations of Internet users with pictures of a large rocking horse, and me contributing one more to the collection? The darnest thing is....the rocking horse does not really rock (shucks!).

The place is actually a toy factory, so there are plenty of toys made from wood around for kids to pester their parents to buy. Anyway, it was a good stop to stretch some legs, grab some coffee at the cafe and pay for some rocking horse souvenirs for sis.

The Giant Rocking Horse is just an interesting place to see....as the horse is very large (Australia is very well known for it's large man made monuments - for example the Big Pineapple in Qld, the Giant Koala in Victoria, the Giant Lobster in South Australia...and the list goes on).

Besides climbing the horse and having a good view out, you can also go through the adjoining toy workshop/giftshop selling wooden locally made goods and other souvenirs. The kids will enjoy this one.

See a real factory of wooden toys. If you can resist buying, well, it is because you don't like toys...
You can climb the 18m high toyhose at the entrance.