Now , here for your enjoyment is the most humungous iron weight I have ever found. It is used to compact rubbish in the skip of a local surplus building material business. I calculated its weight at around 600kg!

The mother of all kettlebells...



Convict ball

Tasmania and in particular the peninsula settlement at Port Arthur , was basically a convict prison until transportation from the overcrowded prisons of England ceased in the mid 19th century. One way of restricting the convict's freedom , especially on work gangs , was to connect a 20kg ball via a chain to the ankle. It would be hard to break such a shackle but not impossible. But then you'd have to get past the line of vicious dogs at Eaglehawk Neck , a narrow isthmus.
I passed this objet up,  as it was for sale at an "antique price".
I did steal the photo though.


On holiday in Borneo (Sabah) 2007 I could not resist the chance to emulate the great Victorian era strongman Louis Uni (The "Mighty Apollon" ) and lift a pair of train wheels. These were pretty light , maybe 75kg(165lbs) ; The Mighty Apollon did in fact lift a pair of 118kg (260lb) wheels above his head - but it is uncertain (though certainly plausible) whether the 166kg (366lb) bar of 1.93inches (49mm) diameter (that came to be known as " Apollon's axle " was ever hoisted overhead by him.

 Anyway I reckon you should never pass up the opportunity to make an ass of yourself in public as long as it's legal and no-one loses a bollock.  This feat got my hands rusty (temporary)  and delivered a nice memory (permanent) . As I recall , the day was hot & steamy. What else is there , in Borneo?


Replica Apollon's axles (366lbs) are brought out for strongman contests. Here is a link to such a lift http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=SBEy_pJR3sA