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Australia's Big Things
Australians have been fascinated by "big things" since the 1960s, when statues such as Adelaide's Big Scotsman and the Big Banana in Coffs Harbour were opened to great fanfare. Many will recall childhood road trips punctuated by such highlights as a giant Merino sheep or a towering rocking horse, or an assortment of fruits - the Big Avocado, the Big Orange and the Big Mango. When the latter was reported "missing" in 2014, the news made national headlines, only to be later revealed as a publicity stunt.
But in a nation now littered with at least 200 big things, there is a sizeable problem. What to do with them as they age and wear out? Many big things were built cheaply from concrete and fibreglass materials that inevitably fade and decay. Some structures such as the Big Pineapple, the Big Macadamia Nut, the Big Orange and the Big Prawn have, in recent times, either fallen into disrepair or struggled to bring in much income. Then there are others, such as Cairns' Big Captain Cook, which invite controversy. The hotel that once accompanied Cook is long demolished, and the local community is divided over the appropriate fate of its landmark. Should he be repainted, or dismantled, or relocated to a place such as James Cook University where, in 2006, students petitioned for his adoption?
Yet while some big things, such as the Big Orange (Berri, South Australia) and the Big Macadamia Nut (Nambour, Queensland), sit abandoned, communities continue to build new monuments to attract tourists to remote corners of Australia. The Big Golden Gumboot in Tully, the Big Bogan in Nyngan and the Big Meat Ant in Augathella are examples of the new generation of local symbols.
The following are some of the Big Things were have visited.
Goulburn, New South Wales
First opened in Sptember 1985, the Big Merino is another big thing that fell on hard times. That happened in 1994 when the the 15 metre tall concrete sheep was bypassed by the freeway, leading to a reduction in visitor numbers. In May 2007 Rambo (as the Merino is locally known) was relocated to a new home within sight of the Hume Highway. In its original location, the Big Merino contained a gift shop on the ground floor and a wool display on the second floor. Visitors could climb to the top and look out through Rambo's eyes to view the local area.
Wagin, Western Australia
There is a similar sheep, known as The Giant Ram, in Wagin, Western Australia. Their version stands 13 metres tall and stands on a pedestal above picnic facilities. Wagin is one of the largest towns in the Southern Wheatbelt region, and annually hosts the Woolorama, one of Western Australia's largest Agricultural Shows.
Adaminiby, New South Wales
Adaminiby's Big Trout is one of Australia's earliest Big Things, and one of its best in terms of being realistic. Designed by Andy Lomnici, the Big Trout is located on the shore of Lake Eucumbene in the Snowy Mountains. Opened in 1973, the trout is built from fiberglass over a steel frame.
Overon, New South Wales
Big Troout Motor Inn at Oberon, juse west of The Blue Mountains, also has a Big Trout, but it is much smaller thatn Adaminiby's.
Daintree, Queensland
Even the tiny, sleepy village of Daintree isn't immune from our 'Big Things' fetish. The Barramundi BBQ Gardens, popular for their grain fed beef and fresh caught barra, is adorned with a six metre long fibreglass barramundi above the front doorway. It's hard to miss, as it's the biggest thing in town.
Normanton, Queensland
Normanton's Big Barramundi stretches 6 metres into the air, an encouraging sight for any would-be fishermen, and a testament to the fantastic fishing that can be found in Queensland's northern outback. Normanton is proud to call itself the 'Barramundi Capital of the North', and hosts the famous 'Normanton Barra Classic' fishing competition every year over the Easter long weekend. Locals who know where to go regularly bring in five kilogram barra, but remember, when you're around our waterways, there's a reason why Normanton is also home to a 8.63 metre statue of a saltwater crocodile!
Millaa Millaa, Queensland
Along the Millaa Millaa-Malanda road, you can't miss the Big Fish. The Big Fish is located just outside Tarzali Lakes and it is there to let all travellers know that Tarzali Lakes are a good spot for recreational fishing.
Swan Hill, Victoria
The Big Murray Cod at Swan Hill, Victoria, is a reminder that the Murray river provides great fishing and water sports. The giant fish stands 11m long and 6m wide adjacent to the railway station on Curlewis Street. The Murray Cod was built as a movie prop but is now set to live out its days at Swan Hill as a popular tourist destination. There is also another smaller Big Murray Cod at Tocumwal, NSW.
Wagga Wagga, New South Wales
Murray Cod Hatcheries and Fauna Park in Wagga Wagga have a big Murray Cod mounted at the entrance to their premises.
Tocumwal, New South Wales
Though some might disagree, my research shows that the Big Murray Cod at Tocumwal was the very first of Australia's Big things. Built in the mid-1960s, it was the brainchild of 3 women who raised the money for it through raffles, street stalls, dances etc. It had a major overhaul in 2000, due to a few bullet holes and cracked fins, plus all those years it was actually painted in Trout Cod colouring. It is now the real thing! It is 7 metres long, made of fibreglass with a steel frame, and is situated on the Foreshore Park next to the Murray River.
Tocumwal, New South Wales
Tocumwal is also home to The Big Strawberry. An produce outlet at the Big Strawberry has a complete range of strawberry based food, wines and homemade jams. If you love strawberries, you ll love The Big Strawberry. Open 7 days a week, be sure to check out the strawberry pancakes, year round supply of fresh strawberries and selected jams on sale.
Nambour, Queensland
The Big Pineapple, which for years has sat roadside on a pineapple plantation at Woombye near Nambour, Qld, was the first big thing I ever visited. I recall the first time I climbed the stairs and entered the 16 metre high fibreglass pineapple, which contained displays all about pineapples. The famed pineapple hosted Prince Charles and Princess Diana when they visited Australia in 1983. In 2009, the Big Pineapple was added to the Queensland State Heritage Register, giving it some legal protection. The Big Pineapple and plantation fell on hard times and was sold in October 2010. It remained abandoned for a number of years but has since been revived.
Nabour's one was not Australia's first. An identical Big Pineapple near Gympie was the original Big Pineapple, and it was on that one that Nambour's Big Pineapple was modelled. Gympie's version sat on top of a disused petrol station for years before being demolished in 2008.
Duranbah, New South Wales
Situated at Duranbah's Tropical Fruit World (formerly Avocadoland), near the Queensland border. Look for the tropical fruit world sign on the highway between Murwillumbah and Tweed Heads to see it.
Coffs Harbour, NSW
The Big Banana is situated out the front of a gift shop surrounded by banana plantations just ourtside of Coffs Harbour on the New South Wales north coast. The 11 metre long; 5 metres high banana is one of the most famous Big Things in Australia and starting the craze of building big things when it was first opened in 1964.
Beerwah, Queensland
Australia's Big Apples have nothing to do with New York, but everything to so with the popular fruit that is gown in many localities around Australia. It is the most commemorated fruit when it comes to Big Things. The Big Apple at Tallong, New South Wales (above), was gifted to the Tallong community by his son, Jack, was lovingly restored by our friend Alan and now hangs proudly in the Tallong Memorial Park. Tallong is a village within the Southern Tablelands region.
The Big Apple in Yerrinbool, Nsw South Wales.
The Big Apple in Donnybrook, Western Australia.
The Big Apple in Thulimbah, Queensland. It can be found approximately 2.5 hours south-west of Brisbane, on the Cunningham Highway.
Bowen, Queensland
The pleasant coastal farming town of Bowen is Queensland's mango capital, famous for its 'Kensington Pride', a sweet, fleshy, stringless variety of the popular fruit. In fact, the Kensington Pride has become known as the 'Bowen mango', and many Queensland mango lovers won't settle for anything less. So it seems only fitting that the Bowen Visitor Information Centre should be home to a twelve metre high mango. Located on the Bruce Highway, overlooking Edgecumbe Bay, the centre stocks a range of Mango souvenirs and preserves as well as snacks and drinks and the famous locally produced mango flavoured ice cream.
Gayndah, Queensland
Gayndah is the service town for Queensland's premier orange growing area on the Burnett River. It lies at the heart of Queensland's citrus area and proudly claims to be 'The Orange Capital of Queensland'. This claim to fame is given some added weight by the huge 'Big Orange' at the end of town.
Mundubbera, Queensland
Mundubbera is the self-proclaimed "Citrus Capital of Queensland" (although this is disputed by its neighbour and rival, Gayndah) so it is appropriate that both Mundubbera and Gayndah have Big fruits to attract visitors. Gayndah has a Big Orage, Mundubbera has a big mandarin. Fruit grown in the Mundubbera area includes citrus, mangoes, avocadoes and stone fruit. In addition, Mundubbera is Queensland's largest producer of table grapes.
Australians have a reputation for hitting the bottle to quench their thirst on a hot summer's day, so it is not surprising that there are plenty of Big Bottles around the country to remind locals and visitors alike to keep up their fluid intake when out and about. The Bundaberg Rum factory at Bundaberg, Queensland, has a big bottle of Bundy outside its visitors centre.
Pokolbin, New South Wales
If wine is more to your taste, Roche winery at Pokolbin in the Hunter Valley will entice you in to their tasting cellars with this big bottle of Shiraz.
Mangrove Mountain, New South Wales
A giant bottle of Tyrrell's Long Flat Red, so named after the Long Flat vineyard at the winery, once stood outside the Mangrove Mountain country club. The building has been demolished and the bottle removed. The bottle is some 80km south of Tyrrell's, which is in the Hunter Valley wine region, and is now semi-hidden in the grounds of a local club, such that few people would ever see it.
Tewantin, Queensland
Beer is Australia's most popular thinst quencher, so it is not surprising someone has built a house from discarded beer bottles. Tewantin, on the Queensland Sunshine Coast, put its hand up and erected The House of Bottles, created from thousands of beer bottles and stubbies. The complex includes one building concreted in to the shape of a Big Stubbie.
Larrimah, Northern Territory
Larrimah also has a Big Stubbie, however it is made of concrete. Sitting next to it in a deck chair is a giant Pink Panther.
Cobar, New South Wales
A Big Beer Can with a Tooheys New design, is located above the entrance to the Grand Hotel in Cobar, in outback New South Wales. It was erected in 1990.
Kulgera, Northern Territory
Kulgera also has a Big Beer Can, this time a XXXX Gold Lager can, outside the Kulgera Roadhouse Hotel Motel, in the Northern Territory.
Launceston, Tasmania
Tasmanian brewer James Boag is famous for its Boag's Draught beer, so it is not surprising that one of its circular storage tanks at its Launceston brewery has been painted as a can of Boag's Draught.
Mirboo North, Victoria
If you'd rather drink your beer from a glass, then head for the Big Beer Glass at the Grand Ridge Brewery Restaurant near Mirboo North in Victoria's Gippsland region.
Buronga, New South Wales
One of Australia's most well known big things was the Stanley Wine Cask at the BRL Stanley Winery in Buronga, New South Wales. Essentially a shed painted in its wine cask colours, its original purpose was as a water purifying plant for the winery but in a stroke of marketing genius was magnificently transformed into a giant wine cask. The cask was no more in late 2012 when parent company Accolade Wines, formerly Constellation Brands, rebranded itself. The cask was 8 metres high, 11 metres long and 7 metres wide and could theoretically hold up to 400 000 litres of wine.
Hopetoun, Western Australia
Hopetoun's's big shoe is in fact a prop from the movie, Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. It's the show that was strapped to the top of the bus and driven through Australia's red centre adorned with a heavily made-up drag queen played by Guy Pearce. After filming on the movie wrapped up in 1994, the shoe was left at Kings Canyon Resort in the Northern Territory as a lasting memento for the area. It disappeared for 18 years, eventually turning up tied to Len Beadell's grader at the Giles Weather Station in outback Western Australia. Len Beadell was considered the last Australian explorer, opening up isolated desert areas from 1947 to 1963; he linked east and west by creating the Gunbarrel Highway. After its discovery, the Priscilla shoe was purchased and restored by the Ravensthorpe Regional Art Council.
Tully, Queensland
Tully is Queensland a sugar town which receives the highest rainfall of any town in Australia (it has an annual average rainfall of 4.27 metres and holds the record for the highest annual rainfall in a populated area of Australia, with an Australian record of 7.9 metres in 1950). Tully's Golden Gumboot is 7.9 metres tall, representing the record highest rainfall in any Australian town.
Thornton, New South Wales
Mortels Sheepskin Factory is home to the world's biggest Ugg Boots. These big ugg boots are 13 times the size of a women's size 8 ugg boot. The shop and boots can be found on the corder of Weakleys and Glenwood Drives, Thornton, Maitland, New South Wales. The Big Ugg Boots were erected in April 2015.
Penguin, Tasmania
Penguin is home to the Big Penguin (3.15 metres high) and all the bins in the town have cement penguins along the sides. Built and erected to commemorate the centenary of proclamation of the town of Penguin on 25th October 1875, the 'ferro cement' penguin stands three metres high. Today the Big Penguin is not alone, all the street rubbish bins in Penguin also have cement penguins along the sides.
Latrobe, Tasmania
The Big Platypus at Latrobe, Tasmania, is one of Tasmania's few Big Things. It is at the Australian Axeman's Hall of Fame, Latrobe, near Devonport. Within the complex is a Platypus Interpretation Centre that includes a static display in the form of a forest glade, consisting of six ponds with a flowing water feature, inclusive of comprehensive dioramas, sculptures, mural boards and screens. Taxidermies of Tasmanian species and live native fish/water bug are on display.
Tolga, Queensland
Just north of Tolga, on the Atherton Tablelands, the 'Big Peanut' welcomes passersby to The Peanut Place, an outlet sepcializing in locally grown Hi Oleic peanuts. It's not one of the biggest 'Big Things' on the trail, but considering peanuts are so small ... this cheerful chap with his black top hat must be many thousands of times larger than the real thing. The Big Peanut is home to The Peanut Place, with a great range of delicious peanuts and snacks.
Humpty Doo, Northern Territory
The Big Croc at Humpty Doo to the south of Darwin, NT, is a timely reminder to travellers that they had bettwe watch out because they are in crocodile country. Standing proudly outside a service station, and geared up with boxing gloves and a fighting stance, the Big Croc has become a humorous landmark for the town.
Mission Beach, Queensland
The cassowary is a flightless native bird, somewhat similar to an emu or an ostrich, but fitted with an inbuilt 'crash helmet', possibly to aid in racing through the dense forest. Cassowaries can weigh up to 80 kilograms, and stand two metres tall, but this one in Mission Beach towers 5 metres above the curious tourists who pose to have their photograph taken in front of the huge concrete stucture.
Townsville, Queensland
The big Brolga (a native Australian bird) is on the southern edge of Townsville, in the gardnes of the local tourist information centre.
Boulia, Queensland
The Big Boomerang is at Boulia, a small, remote outback settlement 1719 km from Brisbane, 305 km south of Mt. Isa and 364 km west of Winton. The town hosts an annual camel race. Boulia is the home of the mysterious Min Min Light, a phenomena first recorded in the 19th century.
Huntington, Tasmania
A big fork stands outside a garden and landscape supplier at Huntingfield near Kingston in Tasmania. Kingston is a coastal community to the south west of Hobart.
Widgiemooltha, Western Australia
Widgiemooltha, near Norseman, is the home of the Golden Eagle Nugget, a 1135oz gold nuggest found by Jim Larcombe while working on his father's goldmining lease on 15 January 1931. An oversized replica of the nugget stands outside Widgiemooltha Roadhouse.
Kerang, Victoria
If you are a furniture manufactuer and want the world to know what you are and where you are, what better way is there than to have a giant Dining Room Suite gracing the front entrance of your showroom. Kerang Redgum Furniture One in Kerang, Victoria, have done just that.
Cowes, Victoria
A Maze N Things is a unique, award winning theme park located at Cowes on on Phillip Island in Victoria. It is a world of illusions, puzzles, magic, mazes and mini golf that provides hours of fun. It also has interactive magic displays, astounding illusions, mysterious caves, magic rabbits, a time machine, scare rooms, treasures, flying chandeliers and lots more. To illustrate the kind of things you'll find here, there is a big flowing, free-standing tap on the roof.
Kew, New South Wales
The Big Axe is located about 2km north of Kendall, at Kew, New South Wales. The Big Axe resides above the Tourist Information Centre.
Noosaville, Queensland
The Big Pelican is at Noosaville on Queensland's Sunshine Coast. This huge structure has movable parts (it can rotate its head, open and shut its bill, flap its wings, blink its eyelashes, and wiggle its tail) that can be operated from the inside. Most tours and bus trips include a stop at the Pelican, which is a great photo opportunity. The Big Pelican was built circa 1977 in Noosa Council's workshop for Rotoract as a float for the Festival of the Waters Parade.
Uranga, New South Wales
Port Macquarie, New South Wales
A big lawn bowls bowling ball sits outside the Lake Cathie Bowling Club in Port Macquarie.
Armidale, New South Wales
There is also a big lawn bowls bowling ball outside the Armidale Bowling Club.
Wauchope, New South Wales
Wauchope, a town known for its timber milling, is also surrounded by dairy farms, so it comes as no surprise that a Big Thing of the bovine variety can be seen there. Located a few kilometres east of the town, it is attached to farm with an animal nursery with a milking display.
Birchip, Victoria
Another town with a bull - in this instance a Mallee Bull - is Birchip, a town in the Mallee region of Victoria. The town is also famous for its award-winning vanilla slices.
Cairns, Queensland
This eight metre tall Marlin ouside Stockland Shopping Centre on Mulgrave Road, in Cairns is a reminder that you are indeed in 'big game fish' territory. The coastline from just south of Cairns to Cooktown in the north is known as the 'Marlin Coast' and this region is deserved of its reputation as the Marlin Capital of the World! The first 1000-pound Black Marlin ever caught in the world was caught just off the coast of Cairns. Now, more 1000 pound Black Marlin are caught.
Cardwell, Queensland
The glossy red 'Big Crab' crouches menacingly near the entrance to a Cardwell restaurant, known as ... surprise surprise... the 'Big Crab'. Famous for their fresh seafood, especially prawns and crabs, all Mud Crabs at the Big Crab are available either cooked, live or steamed.
Kingston SE, South Australia
The Big Lobster at Kingston SE in South Australia is one of the most ftinely detailed of Australia's big things. Known locally as Larry of Lobster, he sits beside a seafood restaurant - where locally caught lobster is naturally the house speciality - and a gift shop. Created in Adelaide in 1979 and shipped down the coast on the back of a truck, Larry is far bigger than its creators intended. He was designed in feet and inches, but there was a mis-communication in the construction stages, and they made it in metres, and that's why the 17 metre high Larry is three times bigger than originally intended.
Dongara, Western Australia
The Western Australian coastal town of Dongara is famous for its lobster fishing so it is appropriate that the townsfolk marked the entrance to their town with a model of a lobster in a fishing boat.
Denmark, Western Australia
Old Kent River Winery has a giant marron near its entrance. Inside there is a large tank containing a few large examples of live Marron. Located midway between Denmark and Walpole on the South Coast Hwy, The Old Kent River winery is also home to the Slow Food Cafe. For readers not familiar with marron, it is a freshwater lobster found in the rivers of WA's south west corner.
Ceduna, South Australia
The Big Oyster is featured in the grounds of Ceduna Oyster Bay on Eyre Highway, Ceduna. The Big Oyster was built as a float for Ceduna s annual Oysterfest. It is made of ferro-concrete, a type of reinforced concrete, and was retired from float duties in 1994.
Taree, New South Wales
One of the most surreal of all the Big Things, the Big Oyster can be found at Fotheringham Park just north of Taree on the Pacific Highway. The Big Oyster appears to have teeth, but in fact it's a window for panoramic views over the coast (and the road). It was built by the same people who did the Big Prawn in Ballina. It began life as a cafe, but has been converted into a Nissan car dealership.
Ballina, New South Wales
Built by the same people who did the Big Oyster, the 6m x 9m Big Prawn can be found outside Ballina. There were design similarities in buildings they originally graced - a similar glass viewing area and the same style and colour building supporting the structure.
These days the Big Prawn no longer straddles a building - but is more gracefully and appropriately mounted in a Bunnings Warehouse car park. It was bought by its new owner for $21.3 million.
Ballina, New South Wales
A new smaller big can be found near Catherine Hill Bay, New South Wales, on the old F3 Highway past the Doyalson turn-off. An earlier version of it used to be seen at the Crangan Bay service station, which was destroyed by fire in 2013.
Lakes Entrance, Victoria
The Giant Octopus sits atop Griffiths' Sea Shell Museum and Marine Display, at 125 Esplanade, Lakes Entrance, Victoria. This museum has many natural marine specimens and is one of the largest private collections of marine life ever displayed which includes shells, rare and strange sea creatures, corals and sponges from all over the world, a 10 metres long coral reef and an aquarium housing Bass Strait sea life.
Barellan, New South Wales
Barellan celebrated its centenary in 2009 with the construction of The Big Tennis Racquet. This sculpture was erected in honour of Australian tennis champion Evonne Goolagong Cawley., who grew up in the Riverina town of Barellan. The racquet, which was unveiled by Yvonne on 3 October 2009, is an exact 20:1 scale model of Evonne's battered wooden signature Dunlop racquet. Location: Evonne Goolagong Park, Yapunyah Street, Barellan.
Singleton, New South Wales
A very simple but very accurate timepiece, this was once the world's biggest sundial. It is located in a park on Ryan Avenue, Singleton, in the Hunter Valley.
Hamilton, Victoria
Hamilton, a city in western Victoria, claims to be the "Wool Capital of the World", based on its strong historical links to sheep grazing which continue today. Sheep grazing and agriculture are the primary industries in the surrounding shire, the area producing as much as 15 percent of Australia s total wool clip.
Yatala, Queensland
Yatala Pies has been a landmark for more than 130 years. From humble beginnings as a small pie shop on the Pacific Highway, the company has relocated to large, modern, landscaped premises nearby.
Bilpin, New South Wales
The New South Wales town of Bilpin is famous for its fruit, so it comes as no surprise that its Big Pie - mounted on the back of a truck - is in fact an apple pie. The truck and pie are on Bells Line of Road, Bilpin; the shop they promote offers both savoury and sweet pies.
Maleny, Queensland
The Maleny Cheese factory has a giant milk churn outside. They also have a big block of cheese roadside to make sure visitors to Maleny don't miss their cheese tasting and cafe.
Maleny also has two big kookaburras at different locations.
Kurri Kurri, New South Wales
Maleny's kookaburras are all very nice, but they pale in comparison size-wise with the gigantic Kookaburra that overlooks the Garden of Honour in the Hunter Valley town of Kurri Kurri. The 4.5 metre kookaburra was built by Pokolbin artist Chris Fussell and erected in the Rotary Park in 2009. Unlike many Big Things, it is not tacky or amateurish, but very life like.
Westbury, Tasmania
Since 2009, the northern Tasmanian town of Westbury has been known for the Big Wickets, erected in a park as a memorial to local cricketer, Jack Badcock. He played test cricket for Australia between 1936 and 1938, and was Tasmania s first test cricketer and the first Tasmanian to score a century in international cricket.
Shepherds Flat, Victoria
Cricket Willow is the only facility in the world where visitors can witness the fascinating process of cricket bat manufacture from start to finish. Located at Shepherds Flat near Daylesford, its entrance is marked by two giant cricket bats..
Nullarbor Plain, South Australia
A Readymix Logo, carved into the limestone bedrock of the Nullarbor Plain, was created in the winter of 1965 by construction crews sealing the Eyre Highway across the Nullarbor Plain. Situated 13km north west of the John Eyre Motel at Caiguna some 800 kilometres east of Perth near the midpoint of the Eyre Highway, it is the work of Allan Hoare (1936-89), a grader driver. It is said to have been created as an emergency airstrip for Readymix emploees, the logo making it easily identifiable from the air. It was never used as an airstrip and is a long way from the road and Caiguna settlement, so this may have been a myth generated to cover up that it had been created purely for advertising purposes or out of boredom.
The "diamond in the desert", which is on the Nightshade pastoral lease, was once a familiar sight along what used to be the trans-continental flight route. Ansett and TAA domestic flights used Caiguna's VOR station as a turning point on routes to and from Perth, so the logo was visible to crew and passengers on flights between Perth and the eastern capitals. The diamond shape measures 3.2km across by 1.6km high. Inside the diamond, the word 'Readymix' was listed in the Guiness book of records between 1972-1992 as the largest lettering in the world, with interest being revived in it with the advent of satellite imaging.
While the diamond was maintained by "occasional grading" from soon after its creation, by the mid-1970s, the diamond was becoming overgrown. John Crocker, owner of Balladonia station, was subsequently employed, and regraded it several times until about 1980. Crocker took several days to do the job each time. It has not been graded since. By 1998, the diamond was barely visible and remains that way, although it still survives on a number of maps, including some issued very recently. It can be viewed using Google Earth. Readymix is a the name of a major Australian supplier of ready mixed concrete, hence its name.
Robertson, New South Wales
Due to its closer resemblance to a giant lump of excrement rather than a potato, this most unrealistic of all Big Things had earned itself the nickname "The Big Turd". It used to be adjacent to Potato World, which has closed down.
Narrandera, New South Wales
This playable guitar is on display at the Narrandera Visitor Information Centre. It measures 5.820 metres by 2.019 metres and has its place in the 1991 edition of the Guinness Book of Records as the 'Worlds Largest Playable Guitar'.
Tamworth, New South Wales
Tamworth is best known for hosting the Country Music Festival, which is recalled by its Big Guitar. Held over 10 days during January, the festival is often counted among the world's top ten music festivals. The festival features thousands of Australian and international country music artists performing live shows 24 hours a day. The 10 day festival culminates in the Golden Guitar Awards - the most prestigious award that an Australian Country Music artist can win for their music.
Meckering, Western Australia
The Big Camera in Meckering, a town in the Western Australian wheatbelt, is actually a facade for The Big Camera Museum of Photography. The museum is well worth the visit while you are in town. It has a collection of newspaper clippings from 1968 about the Meckering Earthquake.
Kimba, South Australia
The Big Galah beside South Australia's Eyre Highway is a Kimba, a town where flocks of galahs and cockatoos are often seen. Kimba is the half-way point on the road between Sydney on Australia's east coast and Perth on the west coast.
Daintree, Queensland
This big fella can be found on the banks of the Daintree River, in the carpark just before the ferry crossing. This is the point where most of the Daintree River cruises depart from, and in face of a competitive business environment, one enterprising operator erected this huge crocodile head to attract potential customers his way. We don't know whether he did or not, but the head is impressive.
Bridgetown, Western Australia
There is a big mushroom in a park in the south west country town of Bridgetown. Its location is somewhat ironic as the local police are on a perpetual quest to catch people harvesting locally grown Psilocybin mushrooms. Also known as psychedelic or magic mushrooms, they contain toxins sought by drug takers for their euphoric and hallucinogenic properties, which are similar to LSD. Nearby Balingup is Australia s unofficial hallucinogenic fungi capital.
Gumeracha, South Australia
Gumeracha has placed itself on the Adelaide Hills tourist trail by building a giant rocking horse for visitors to climb or gaze at. The huge toy rocking horse which promotes a local toy factory.
Sydney Olympic Park, Homebush
Discobolus is a monument located in Stockroute Park that links the Sydney Olympic Park site to the Olympic Games in Ancient Greece. The steel discus measures seven metres in diameter, with a mid section made of armour plated glass featuring images of a discus thrower. The surrounding Cyprus pines, olive trees and Australian eucalyptus reinforce the connection between the original home of the Olympics and the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games. That the Discobolus looks remarkably like a compact disc is no coincidence - the Columbia Gramophone studios that recorded the voices of countless Australian luminaries for almost three decades from 1926 to 1954, is close by. Australian country music legend Slim Dusty recorded his first record at the Homebush studio in 1946, and he named his final album, Columbia Lane, after the address of the former EMI recording studio.
Broken Hill, New South Wales
Broken Hill's Big Bench is an over-sized park bench that makes even the biggest of people look and feel like a child again. It was constructed back in 2002 as a sculpture on top of the Line of Load hill and has since become a popular tourist attraction. With a size of 2.5 times a normal park bench, most people will need to use something to get up on it. There used to be bricks on the sides to help you up but some spoil-sport has taken them away and put a chain fence around it. Fortunately everyone ignores the fence and still climbs on it.
Emerald, Queensland
The Big Easel is a tribute to Vincent Van Gogh's sunflowers as a symbol of life and hope. Emerald is one of seven sites chosen in the world by the artist Cameron Cross where he would paint a reproduction of Van Gogh's sunflowers. Each of the seven sites chosen have a significance to Van Gogh or sunflowers. Emerald is a major centre for growing sunflowers in Australia and holds a sunflower festival each year.
Sarina, Queensland
Sarina, a sugar town that is surrounded by a number of significant national parks and nature reserves, is the home of Buffy, the Big Cane Toad. The Shire of Sarina is well known for the quality of the art and craft produced by its very talented residents, the work of which is exhibited here.
Anakie, Queensland
The Big Sapphire is ocated in front of the Big Sapphire and Gemfield Information Centre at 1 Anakie Road, Anakie, which was closed as of May 2012. It was erected in 1982 to promote the town's reputation as a place to find gemstones. A gemstone dealer - Pat's Gems - hosts another "big thing", a giant engagement ring which forms an archway entrance to the premises.
The Big Slouch Hat is a war war memorial which will doubles as a shelter during Anzac Day and other commemorative services. It stands outside the Gilles Plains and Hampstead RSL in South Australia. The Big Slouch Hat was funded through the Fund My Neighbourhood scheme.
Kapunda, South Australia
Many mining towns across Australia have a tribute to the miners of yesteryear who sought their fortune there, often in the form of a statue. The biggesr, and most impressive, is named Map Kernow, which recalls in Cornish miners who came to South Australia's copper belt and worked the mines there in the mid to late 1800s.
Rubyvale, Queensland
The Queensland town of Ruby Vale in the Central Highlands Region celebrates its gemstone fields with its own Big Miner who beckons passers by into the Bobby Dazzler Mine.
Ballarat, Victoria
The goldming town of Ballarat in Victoria's central goldfields has a number of Big Miners around town to ensure visitors never forget where they are and the town's mining heritage. This one, beside the highway to Melbourne, is the most well known, though another statue at Gold Rush Mini Golf is equally impressive.
The park, at 9367 Western Hwy, Warrenheip, also has a larger-tan-life Ned Kelly.
Bathurst, New South Wales
The Big Gold Panner can be found in front of the motel of the same name, rather hopefully inspecting his tin pan for nuggets of gold. You can find it on the Great Western Highway in Bathurst. A big man for a big job.
Lithgow, New South Wales
Part of the Lithgow Visitor Information Centre has been built in the shape of a miner's lamp.
Coober Pedy, South Australia
The big winch at Coober Pedy identifies the remote outback township with the activity that gave the town its reason for being - opal mining. The area around the town is riddled with pock marks across the landscape and remnants of mine shafts and wells where miners sought their fortune in the red dirt of the South Australian outback.
Mt Vernon, New South Wales
What else would an egg merchant called The Big Chook Egg Farm have as its emblem than a giant chicken? The Big Chook can be seen roadside near the front gate at 350 Mt Vernon Rd in Mt Vernon, and outer suburb of Sydney.
Moonbi, New South Wales
Moonbi, a village situated on the New England Highway 20 kilometres north of Tamworth, New South Wales, also has a Big Chook, situated alongside a tourist and community information board.
Docklands, Melbourne, Victoria
"Cow up a Tree" is the very precisely-named work of Australian artist John Kelly, exhibited in Paris and the Hague before it was installed in Melbourne. Floodwaters have more than once stranded a poor cow or two in the limbs of trees, and Kelly has captured this pathetic yet whimsical imagery perfectly. It is one of three sculptures with a bovine theme created by the artist.
Condong, New South Wales
The Big Easter Egg must be one of the most unusual things to be honoured in Australia with a "big" version. Condong is a town located in north-eastern New South Wales some 4 km from Murwillumbah. The Big Egg relates to the Murwillumbah Easter egg hunt held every easter.
Cairns, Queensland
The Big Captain Cook in Cairns was originally constructed to promote the Captain Cook Motel to entice travellers inside to stay a few nights. Legend has it that when plans were submitted to council, the dimensions where meant to be approved in imperial feet, not metric metres. Once it got the big tick of approval, there was no going back and the 3-times taller-than-intended Captain James Cook is now a permanent feature of the Cairns skyline. The Big Captain Cook has had a number of lives - it has been used to advertise everything from the previously mentioned motel to a car rental company.
Bodalla, New South Wales
Located in the dairying village of Bodalla, New South Wales, the Big Cheese serves as a monument to the Bodalla label that can be found all over the country. In reality it is only a water tank painted yellow and with a giant cheese label attached to it, but it certainly tells visitors to Bodalla what the place is all about.
Beerwah, Queensland
The Big Mower stands outside a business of the same name at 89 Beerwah Parade, Beerwah, on Queensland's Sunshine Coast.
Dadswells Bridge, Victoria
The sculpture was built in 1988 by Dutch sculptor Ben Van Zetten for Beryl Cowling and is one of the biggest of Australia's big things. Along with the giant koala sculpture is a cafe/restaurant, a mini-zoo, a gift-shop, tourist information centre, and a Koala Educational centre inside the koala. The Gient koala is at 5829 Western Highway, Dadswells Bridge.
Maroubra Beach, New South Wales
Believed to be the world's largest Rubuks Cube, this sculpture is right on the Beach on the Northern End past the Surf lifesaving club. It is non fuctional. The Rubik's Cube is a 3-D combination puzzle invented in 1974 by Hungarian sculptor and professor of architecture Erno Rubik. As of January 2009, 350 million cubes had been sold worldwide making it the world's top-selling puzzle game. It is widely considered to be the world's best-selling toy.
Marulan, New South Wales
Just to the south of Marulan in the Southern Highlands of NSW are the remains of the Moccador Pavlova Factory which was built in the shape of a large pink and white pavlova. The factory used to manufacture pavlovas, handmade chocolates and cheesecakes and offer devonshire teas to travellers but it was a casualty of the town's by-pass. It closed in 1991. You have to have quite a vivid imagination to see its resemblance to a pavlova.
Bilpin, New South Wales
One of two Big Fruit Bowls can be found in Bilpin, a town famous for its apples, 93km from Sydney. The giant bowl stands over 2 metre high. Another big fruit (below) is at Batlow, which is also in a major apple producing area.
