(or almost found) 🔎
Australia is a big country. And when we say big, we mean BIG. In total, there are over 8 million square kilometres of land and bodies of water.
And with that much room to roam around, it's no surprise that some pretty weird things have been lost - and subsequently found - in the Land Down Under. So taking this into account, and with some inspiration from the recent news of a lost radioactive capsule, here are a few of the weirdest things to ever be lost and found (or almost found) in Oz.
Lasseter's Reef
Legend has it that in the late 19th century, explorer Harold Lasseter claimed to have discovered a massive gold reef near Alice Springs in Australia's outback.
Unfortunately, upon going back, he wasn’t able to locate it. And the story of Lasseter's Reef has become one of Australia's most enduring mysteries. Many have searched for lost gold over the years, but no one has ever been able to find it. And rumours swirl as to whether Lasseter's Reef is even real!
In saying that, there have been scattered reports that the "gold reef" was uncovered by a local indigenous man travelling through central Australia. The jury is still out on this one, but if it really exists, there may be some serious money waiting to be discovered.
A radioactive capsule
In what might be one of the strangest and most highly publicised lost and found stories in Australia, a radioactive capsule went missing on a highway between Newman and Perth.
The capsule, which was smaller than a blueberry, had fallen out of its casing during transportation from a mine site in the Pilbara. And despite the slim chances of finding such a tiny object along a 1,400 km stretch of road, authorities managed to recover the device.
A needle in a haystack situation if we ever saw one. But in this instance, that needle could potentially have caused some serious damage!
Harold Holt
We wish that we could say that this missing individual was eventually found, but unfortunately Harold Holt is still missing to this day.
Harold Holt was an Australian Prime Minister who went missing while swimming off the coast of Portsea, Victoria in 1967. His body was never recovered, and the circumstances surrounding his disappearance still remain a mystery. Some people speculate that he faked his own death, while others believe that he was taken by a dangerous ocean current.
Whatever happened to Harold Holt, it's certainly one of Australia's most enduring mysteries. There are still no clues as to what may have happened to this day. However, the search for evidence of his demise continues!
An American tourist
If the story of Harold Holt got you down then this one should cheer you up.
In 1999, an American tourist by the name of Robert Bogucki tried to tackle the Great Sandy Desert. He quickly found out that they don't call it the 'Great' Sandy Desert for nothing after setting off on a two-week biking trip through our second-largest desert.
For some reason, Bogucki didn't tell anyone of his exact plans. And after two weeks without contact, a group came across his abandoned bike and alerted the police. The police then traced his movements from the day he left and organised an extensive search.
This search lasted for over a week, but they were unable to find any trace of Bogucki. The police suspended the search and the family of Robert Bogucki believed that he had passed away in the desert. However, they still went ahead with requesting a private search carried out by trained professionals.
43 days went by and the search was called off, but then the unexpected happened - they finally found him... or a television film crew did to be exact. He was alive and well, albeit a little worse for wear as he had gone without food for weeks and water for 12 days, losing 30 kilograms in the process.
A 17th-century Dutch painting
Sometimes things go missing that were never thought to be missing in the first place, as is the case of the 17th-century Dutch painting found in a storeroom of a heritage building in the Blue Mountains, NSW.
The restoration process of the Woodford Academy revealed that buried beneath layers of dirt and dust was an extremely old but valuable painting - estimated to be worth up to $5 million!
How this 400-year-old painting ended up in the storeroom is still unknown, but one thing's for certain - it was a rare and exciting find. The National Trust property dates to the 1830s, so who knows how long the painting had been hidden away!
Upon finding the painting and dusting it off, there were suspicions that it may have been created by Gerrit Willemz Heda with his father, Dutch master Willem Claesz Heda. And after some thorough research and investigation, experts confirmed that it was indeed created by Gerrit Willemz Heda, which made it all the more valuable!
The Bledisloe Cup
We admittedly do know where the Bledisloe Cup is located. It's in New Zealand. The problem is that it's been there since 2003, with the All Blacks winning the cup every year up until today.
That's right, the Bledisloe Cup is a rugby union tournament between Australia and New Zealand. And for two decades now, it has stayed firmly in Kiwi hands. It's fair to say that this cup means everything to rugby union fans from both countries, but especially that of New Zealand who has been victorious 16 times in a row!
So why hasn't Australia managed to get their hands on the Bledisloe Cup? Have they simply not been trying hard enough or are the odds stacked against them? The answer is actually quite simple; no matter how much effort and preparation goes into every game, the All Blacks have been consistently dominating on the rugby field.
It's a bit of a sore spot for Australian fans, but we're not giving up just yet! With some luck and hard work, maybe one day we'll be able to reclaim it from our Kiwi neighbours.
Now tell us... have you ever lost and found something of importance? Or have you ever simply lost something and are waiting for it to return? Leave a message and let us know. And remember if you're ever looking for the best damn pokies in the world, you know where to find them!
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