Aim: to personally visit and gain photographic evidence of every "Big Thing" in Australia.

Sounds simple enough, right? But I have to had visited each Big Thing myself - I am not accepting photos donated from other people, no matter if they call me their friend or not. I guess the premise for this crackpot idea is that it's an interesting way to get to see a lot of Australia; and given the distribution of Big Things that covers most of the continent worth seeing.

'But why do this and put up yet another Big Things website?' I hear you ask. Honestly.. have you seen these sites?? With the exception of a couple, they either reuse each other's photos, plagiarise the accompanying text, or in the case of the "official-unofficial" site (www.bigthings.com.au), all of the above as well as rendering the text on each page unreadable (some of us still use 800x600 you know!). In addition to this, he also has the audacity to offer people the use of content on it that isn't even his! (but don't take all of it without telling him, please.)

All credit to the few original sites out there but the fact still remains that no one site has all the Big Things.. yet. And my site probably never will either (says he, getting down off his high horse now). But I feel this project will be entertaining in the process and take me to some interesting places I might never have bothered to visit.

'So hotshot, what makes you think you have the definitive list of Big Things?'. I'm glad you asked. I remember once in primary school, a fellow student brought along a book containing not only a list of Big Things, but Great Big Things (all in the name, I guess). So I figured that there must be an official guide - a national register of Big Things, in which you must meet stringent guidelines to be accepted (built from flaky fibreglass, have tacky postcards, etc). But after initially scouring the Internet to construct my own list I quickly discovered that there's a fine line between a Big Thing and some kind of large object made from papier-mâché. Therefore, there is no official list - it's purely subjective. Which is why I have set up my own ratings system (score out of 10) to weed out the dismal efforts from the truly deserving:

Bigness: How does it rate on the bigness scale, for starters? (0=tiny; 10=enormous)

Interest Factor: What does it have to keep ones interest? Is it a wealth of information and fun activities or is it about as exciting as Question Time? (0=boring; 10=barrel of monkies)

Weirdness/Realism: Is it totally abstract or a giant replica? (0=acid trip; 10=replica)

Accessibility: Rates how easy it is to spot or get to. (0=on the moon; 10=can't miss it)

Tourist Factor: Is the place swarming with rubbernecks and shutterbugs? (0=deserted; 10=tokyo subway)

Overall: You work this one out, hotshot. (0=atrocious; 10=a fine Big Thing)

Further to this, the Big Thing must be man-made and more-or-less intended as a tourist attraction. I saw on another site a Big Rock, which was basically a large.. rock. On the ground. Impressive as it was, I'm sure there are plenty of those around and, failing the above two criteria, it does not count.