{"id":6648,"date":"2018-11-20T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2018-11-19T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wotif.com\/vc\/blog\/?p=6648"},"modified":"2020-04-02T05:36:15","modified_gmt":"2020-04-01T19:36:15","slug":"wotif-big-melon-chinchilla","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wotif.com\/vc\/blog\/trending\/qld\/wotif-big-melon-chinchilla\/","title":{"rendered":"Behind the scenes: Chinchilla wins the Big Melon!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Have you heard the BIG news? To celebrate our 18th birthday, Wotif has given Australia its newest and juiciest Big Thing \u2013 the Big Melon in Chinchilla, QLD<\/a>. Some of the team were lucky enough to go to Chinchilla for the grand unveiling. Here are some highlights from an amazing couple of days.<\/p>\n

The Big Drive<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Most of the Wotif team are based in Sydney and Brisbane \u2013 aka places that are not<\/em> Chinchilla. This gives us the perfect excuse for an epic work-team road trip. The Sydney peeps fly up to Brissie, where we hire some cars, stock up on snacks and hit the road \ud83d\ude97 \ud83d\ude0e<\/p>\n

On the lookout for more Big Things<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Many of us get our first glimpse of the Big Melon as we drive into town. Even those of us who worked closely with the designers and engineers that built the Melon are blown away by how big and bright it is. I mean, just look at it!<\/div>\n
The Big Melon, Chinchilla, QLD<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
<\/div>\n

The Big News<\/strong><\/h3>\n

We wake up early \u2013 reeeeal early \u2013 the following day to get ready for the grand unveiling. But what\u2019s this we see on the front page of the paper? Oh, just our favourite oversized slice of fruit, looking awesome.<\/p>\n

Front page of the Courier Mail, 14 November 2018<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
<\/div>\n

The Big Reveal<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Okay, so the big reveal isn\u2019t a huuuge<\/em> surprise to the locals of Chinchilla. The Big Melon has been in place for a couple of days and it\u2019s kind of hard to hide. But it\u2019s still news to the rest of Australia, who\u2019ve been waiting for weeks to find out which finalist \u2013 the Big Melon in Chinchilla<\/a>, the Big Peanut in Kingaroy<\/a>, the Big Tulip in Mittagong<\/a> or the Big Kilt in Glen Innes<\/a> \u2013 will become Australia\u2019s Next Big Thing. In fact, it\u2019s such big news that Today<\/em> come out to film the fun \ud83d\ude32<\/p>\n

Wotif Managing Director Daniel Finch and Western Downs Regional Council Mayor Paul McVeigh cut the ribbon on Australia\u2019s newest (and juiciest) Big Thing<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
<\/div>\n
Chinchilla locals losing their rinds for the Big Melon \ud83c\udf49<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
<\/div>\n
The Wotif Team, having a blast in Chinchilla<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
<\/div>\n

And what fun it is! You see, Chinchilla is famous for its legendary Melon Fest, which is held every two years. It\u2019s a massive event, attracting up to 20,000 visitors and raising over $2 million for charity every time it\u2019s held. To celebrate the Big Melon\u2019s arrival, the Melon Fest committee throw a Mini Melon Fest with watermelon skiing and a delicious brekkie barbecue. And, yeah, watermelon skiing is EXACTLY as messy as it sounds.<\/p>\n

Watermelon skiing at the Big Melon\u2019s Grand Unveiling. Alas, we couldn\u2019t convince our boss to give it a shot…<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
<\/div>\n
Melon skiing champs! Condolences to whoever does their laundry \ud83d\ude02<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
<\/div>\n
The awesome Melon Fest Committee<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
<\/div>\n

The Big Excursion<\/strong><\/h3>\n

There\u2019s a reason Chinchilla is known as Australia\u2019s melon capital \u2013 and not just Melon Fest. Chinchilla is one of Australia\u2019s largest melon-growing regions and Darryl O\u2019Leary \u2013 a local melon farmer \u2013 invites us to visit his property. Darryl teams up with his son, Terry O\u2019Leary and mate, Murray Sturgess, to give us a tour and answer all our questions about how our favourite fruit is grown. It\u2019s a fascinating and very<\/em> educational morning. Big thanks to Darryl, Terry and Murray for showing us around!<\/p>\n

Daniel meets melon farmers Murray Sturgess and Darryl O\u2019Leary<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
<\/div>\n
Itty bitty baby melons<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
<\/div>\n

The Not-So-Big (but very awesome) Town<\/strong><\/h3>\n

We only get to stay in Chinchilla for a couple of days and, unfortunately, we have to spend most of our time working (hey, building Australia\u2019s newest Big Thing is a lot of work, you know!). But we all try to make the most of the time we have in this fantastic town. Which, of course, means eating every delicious thing in sight. Wotif team favourites include:<\/p>\n

\u2022<\/strong> Jack Daniels BBQ pork ribs and classic chicken schnitties with chips and gravy at the Club Hotel<\/a>
\n\u2022<\/strong> Incredible smoothie bowls and gorgeous raw, vegan, gluten-free, and dairy-free cakes at Panache @ Home<\/a><\/p>\n

Sweet treats at Panache @ Home<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
<\/div>\n

\u2022<\/strong> AMAZING steak sandwiches, BLTs and vegetarian breakfasts at the Downtown Caf\u00e9<\/a>
\n\u2022<\/strong> Delicious pies and incredible bee sting donuts at Merritt\u2019s Bakery<\/a><\/p>\n

Epic bee sting donut from Merritt\u2019s Bakery<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
<\/div>\n

In a rare break between meals, we also check out the Chinchilla Visitor Information Centre to get some ideas for future trips (hey, when you work at Wotif, you\u2019re always planning your next holiday \ud83d\ude09). The staff are local experts, with heaps of tips for things to do \u2013 like fishing and swimming at the Chinchilla Weir, visiting the Cactoblastis Memorial Hall (the only building in the world dedicated to an insect), and hiking through the Barakula State Forest. They can also hook you up with a fossicking license (so you can try your luck searching for a rare piece of Chinchilla petrified wood), as well as delicious handmade jams, unique arts and crafts, and fascinating local history books. It\u2019s definitely worth a visit.<\/p>\n

The Chinchilla Visitor Information Centre<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
<\/div>\n

The Big Celebration<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Chinchilla is so full of warm, genuine, wonderful people that we feel like we\u2019ve made a thousand new friends. So what do we do with all our new mates? We head to the pub! Yep, for almost three hours at the Club Hotel, we all come together to celebrate Chinchilla and the Big Melon. It\u2019s standing room only, with whole families coming out to join the fun.<\/p>\n

A packed house at the Club Hotel<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
<\/div>\n

And to top it all off, the sky treats us to a perfectly arched rainbow that ends at \u2013 you guessed it \u2013 the Big Melon. Now, that tops a pot of gold any day \ud83c\udf08<\/p>\n

The Wotif Social and Content team are BEYOND excited for rainbows<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
<\/div>\n

The whole Wotif Team would like to send a BIG THANKYOU to everyone who helped bring the Big Melon to life and came out to say hello. Bring on Melon Fest 2019!<\/p>\n<\/i> PLAN YOUR CHINCHILLA GETAWAY <\/a>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Have you heard the BIG news? To celebrate our 18th birthday, Wotif has given Australia its newest and juiciest Big Thing \u2013 the Big Melon in Chinchilla, QLD. Some of the team were lucky enough to go to Chinchilla for the grand unveiling. Here are some highlights from an amazing couple of days. The Big …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":6650,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[779,765],"tags":[219,250,308,309,310],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wotif.com\/vc\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6648"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wotif.com\/vc\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wotif.com\/vc\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wotif.com\/vc\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wotif.com\/vc\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6648"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/www.wotif.com\/vc\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6648\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6664,"href":"https:\/\/www.wotif.com\/vc\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6648\/revisions\/6664"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wotif.com\/vc\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6650"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wotif.com\/vc\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6648"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wotif.com\/vc\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6648"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wotif.com\/vc\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6648"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}