Questionable health benefits at the O2 Oxygen Bar, Darling Harbour, Sydney

Is this a glimpse of the future, or one of those fads that is going to look awkwardly dated 10 years from now? You could well be looking at the Hypercolor t-shirt of the 2010s, minus the popularity.

Rabbit petting at The Macadamia Castle, North of Ballina, NSW

Much to my disappointment, this castle was not made out of macadamia nuts. However, if your preferred holiday experiences include “rabbit petting”, you’ve come to the right place. They do it three times a day here.

The Ned Kelly Story Computerised Theatre, Glenrowan, Victoria

This is possibly Glenrowan’s best known attraction and it would be wrong of me to write up the totem pole section of the town without shining a light on one man’s multi-million dollar love letter to the legend of the Kelly Gang.

The town of Glenrowan vs the legend of Ned Kelly

For better or worse, Ned Kelly is the closest thing Australia has to Davey Crockett or Robin Hood. And here you can see what a fitting tribute Glenrowan offers its most famous son – a couple of ugly totem poles and a rock in front of a field with a pony and a bathtub full of water.

Turnip-o-lantern carving, Halloween

Pumpkins are Halloween’s rock star vegetable, so you might be surprised to learn that smaller root vegetables such as the humble turnip have been carved into jack-o-lanterns for much longer. So Halloween seemed like an opportunity to dig in to a bit of ancient culture while making some questionable puns about root vegetables.

The Coffin Ride, GlowGolf Docklands, Melbourne

If you’re looking for something to do this Halloween, I cannot recommend The Coffin Ride highly enough. I for one have never seen or heard of anything like it – basically a coffin on hydraulics that lets you experience the journey from the funeral parlour to the grave.

All-star Tudor model village, Fitzroy Gardens, Melbourne

Hey kids, put those toys away! And stay behind the barrier. This model village is for adults. I love Melbourne’s Fitzroy Gardens, but this is one tourist ‘attraction’ that the Melbourne City Council seems to be trying to keep on the downlow.

Submarine spotting in rural New South Wales

The Holbrook Council’s own website says the Submarine Precinct is in the business of “allowing travellers to experience the size and grandeur of a submarine in a unique rural setting”.

Giant prawns and giant hardware stores, Ballina, NSW

Hey, does this make you think of a summer lunch at the beach? Nope, me neither. It looks more like a neglected trophy of when some giant race of interstellar shellfish came gunning for the human race and we kicked the living bejeezus out of them.

Super Bee Honeyworld, Sunshine Coast, Queensland (RIP)

Ambition is a noble thing, but in regional tourism it is definitely possible to be too ambitious. While Super Bee’s honey was (and still is) very tasty indeed, the addition of unconvincing fairytale dioramas and second-rate mini golf ended up cheapening the things it did really really well.