The statue of Curio at Marrabel
I’m not into the world of rodeos and buck-jumpers, but I do admire the one-and-a-half life size statue of the famous Australian horse Curio shown in the photos on this post. This wonderful piece of art work stands at the northern end of the main street of the little town of Marrabel in the mid north of South Australia. We often pass by this statue on our way to visit our daughter in Clare.
Curio was evidently a buck jumping horse to be reckoned with, one that unseated every attempt at riding her for eight years. No rider could stay seated on the horse for more than 3 seconds until a famous day in 1953 when Alan Woods successfully rode her for ten seconds. He is also featured as part of the statue which is based on a photo taken during the famous ride.
The tiny town of Marrabel holds a well attended rodeo every October and has done so since 1935.
You can read more information on the sign shown below (click to enlarge) or on an article on the Marrabel Rodeo website.
Hyde Park, Sydney
After our visit to the Queen Victoria Building and lunch, we caught a train for a short distance and then walked through Hyde Park. The statue of Queen Victoria presides over the traffic around Hyde Park.
A statue of her husband Prince Albert watches over another part of the park opposite his queen.