On a grassy patch of land beside the Princes Highway, Casey Sharpe sighed as he looked up at his most prized and problematic possession: a 16m tall spiny lobster.
His name is Larry. And his future is uncertain.
The crowds Sharpe imagined when he bought Larry, known as The Big Lobster, 11 years ago never materialised. The business behind Larry’s tail closed two years ago.
Now, a tempting offer has arrived that would cut Sharpe’s losses and take Larry off his hands.
The catch? Larry would be shipped thousands of miles away to Western Australia. And if Larry leaves, neighbours will not be happy.
“My name will be mud,” Sharpe said. “I might have to move towns.” His deadline for the local council — or someone else — to save the lobster is next Monday.
Larry is one of Australia’s “Big Things,” the very literal name for the oversize objects sprinkled across this vast country. Some are tributes to a local industry (the Big Banana).
Casey Sharpe, seated at right, with his family in The Big Lobster’s tail in Kingston South East, Australia, Aug. 1, 2018. Source: The New York Times
Others are tributes to national passions (the Big Beer Can). And for those driving Australia’s long freeways, the landmarks provide a place to stretch the legs, with the added bonus of a photo opportunity.
For 39 years, the sight of Larry’s faded red carapace has welcomed road trippers travelling through the quiet seaside farmland of an area known as the Limestone Coast.
He sits at the entrance of Kingston Southeast, population 1,400, where fishing and farming are the town’s lifeblood and tourism thrives in the summer.
The thought of Kingston without Larry is unthinkable.
“I think there’d be a revolution,” said Jeff Pinkerton, 55, a local butcher.
Uncle Rob, an artist with a gallery on the main street, did not mince words. “Without that lobster, Kingston dies,” he said.
