Getlo
09-16-2009, 05:12 PM
I was on vacation back in June/July and drove six hours west of Sydney, to the town of Parkes, in the middle of my state of New South Wales.
There's not much there, except for the radio telescope without which the world would never have seen the moon landing in '69: the signal was sent from the moon, bounced through Parkes to the States, then out to the world.
Parkes also has an Elvis Festival every January, which I think is appalling: thousands of crass impersonators etc. Google "Parkes Elvis Festival" if you feel the need. ;)
But this small town also has The King's Castle.
It is located in a small building on the highway coming in, without much sineage.
It is an Elvis collection that belongs to Greg Page, the guy who used to be in children's group The Wiggles (he was the Yellow Wiggle, but quit due to illness). He's a huge Elvis fan, and he has one of the largest private collections in the world.
You pay $5 and walk into a tiny room, and it's all there. They're moving to a bigger building in the coming months. It's very small, but worth a visit.
Many interesting items: Elvis' Physician's Desk Reference; army deferment certificate; Graceland blueprints; a rose from his coffin; the tag from the pyjamas he was wearing whe he died (?!); his famous Kell police light and one of the rare leather suits from '74.
And only one quarter of Greg's collection is on display.
Some of the pics might be a bit blurry: I forgot to turn on the anti-shake device. D'oh.
And if you think a small country town west of Sydney is a weird place for an Elvis museum ... you're right. :D
Here are some photos.
There's not much there, except for the radio telescope without which the world would never have seen the moon landing in '69: the signal was sent from the moon, bounced through Parkes to the States, then out to the world.
Parkes also has an Elvis Festival every January, which I think is appalling: thousands of crass impersonators etc. Google "Parkes Elvis Festival" if you feel the need. ;)
But this small town also has The King's Castle.
It is located in a small building on the highway coming in, without much sineage.
It is an Elvis collection that belongs to Greg Page, the guy who used to be in children's group The Wiggles (he was the Yellow Wiggle, but quit due to illness). He's a huge Elvis fan, and he has one of the largest private collections in the world.
You pay $5 and walk into a tiny room, and it's all there. They're moving to a bigger building in the coming months. It's very small, but worth a visit.
Many interesting items: Elvis' Physician's Desk Reference; army deferment certificate; Graceland blueprints; a rose from his coffin; the tag from the pyjamas he was wearing whe he died (?!); his famous Kell police light and one of the rare leather suits from '74.
And only one quarter of Greg's collection is on display.
Some of the pics might be a bit blurry: I forgot to turn on the anti-shake device. D'oh.
And if you think a small country town west of Sydney is a weird place for an Elvis museum ... you're right. :D
Here are some photos.