Signs.
We’ve all encountered them on our wanders. Most convey a simple, yet important meaning, while some raise the eyebrows and draw the reader into a world they would otherwise have skipped right by – a place not commonly seen. A funny place. Here’s five such signs I’ve encountered on my travels.
Indonesia’s Gili Islands exhibits some interesting signs, signs catered for the hedonistic traveller and Rudy’s Pub advertises its message bluntly. While certainly not my bag, I’ve got to hand it to Rudy’s for its brazen, straight-shooting sign – which also says a lot about the Gili Islands.
On a recent wander along the wonderful Chinaman’s Beach, in Evans Head, NSW, I was confronted with the candid warning that I might be zapped by lasers and blasted to smithereens if I continued to the beach further ahead. Apparently it was the testing facility for the local RAAF (Royal Australian Air Force), who no doubt would have this blatantly belligerent beach all to themselves after knock-off time.
Bring your own lunch!?
Walking through the town of Launceston, in Tasmania, I saw a sign telling me I could bring my own lunch inside a café if I wanted. Now I’m an old hospitality hound – being both a qualified chef and barista – and I love my food, so I found this particularly unusual/interesting. In fact, I spotted about half a dozen of these signs around Launceston. How cool, I thought. Great spots for the social, scrimping sightseer!
Of course I couldn’t help chucking in one more from the Gili Islands, especially as I was looking to hire a bike and found that not only was a guy named Mr Fuck providing such a service, he was also apparently a nice guy. How could I go wrong!??
Possibly my favourite sign I’ve encountered on my travels, this last one sent ripples of excitement across England (where my family is from) after I reported its existence. You see my last name is Tope, and here’s a picture of me and my brother boasting beneath a speed hump sign, which in Mexico is a tope sign. Here we were in Puerto Escondido, telling the taxi driver to stop for a photo every time we spotted a tope. He thought it was incredibly funny.
What’s an interesting, funny, or strange sign you’ve encountered on your travels? I’d love to hear about it!
