Australia's big things

The Big Things of Australia are a loosely related set of large structures or sculptures. There are estimated to be over 150 such objects around the country, the first being the Big Banana in Coffs Harbour, which was built in 1964.

The big things have become something of a cult phenomenon, and are sometimes used as an excuse for a road trip, where many or all Big Things are visited and used as a backdrop to a group photograph. Many of the big things are considered works of folk art and are being heritage-listed.^[1]

Locations of a number of Australia's big things

List of Big Things (by State / Territory)

A.C.T.

New South Wales

Name	Location	Built	Size	Notes	Image
Big Ant	Broken Hill
Big Apple	Batlow
Big Apple	Yerrinbool			Visible from the Hume Highway
Big Avocado	Duranbah
The Big Axe	Kew	1979	8m	Located alongside the Kew Visitor Information Center. The original sculpture was replaced in 2002 as a result of ant induced damage.
Big Ayers Rock	Karuah	1990		Technically not a Big Thing (as it is substantially smaller than the item it is modelled on), the Rock Restaurant is loosely grouped with the Big Things as an object of roadside 'art'. The 1/40 scale model of Uluru was formerly an attraction at Leyland Brothers World.
The Big Banana [1]	Coffs Harbour	1964	13m x 5m	Considered to be the first 'Big Thing' in Australia. The Big Banana tourist complex includes a banana-themed souvenir shop, tours of the surrounding plantation and an indoor ski slope.
The Big Beer Can	Cobar	1990	5m x 2.5m	Tooheys New design. Located above the entrance to the Grand Hotel.
Big Bench	Broken Hill			In September 2002 as part of the Landscapes and Backgrounds exhibition, a 2.5 times scale park bench was constructed on the top of the Line of Lode, which is a high hill of mine deposits in the center of the city of Broken Hill.
The Big Blue Heeler	Muswellbrook	2001	2m high
Big Bottles	Mangrove Mountain and Hanwood
Big Bowl	Lake Cathie, New South Wales			World's largest Bowl at Lake Cathie, near Port Macquarie, New South Wales
Big Bull	Wauchope		14m x 21m	It has now been pulled down.
Big Bunch of Bananas	Sawtell
The Big Bicycle	Chullora	1997	9m x 6m	The Bicycle built by Jonh Ridley, Andy Lugiz and Phillip Becker adorns the entrance to the Chullora Waste Transfer Station, Chullora NSW
Big Cheese	Bodalla
Big Cherries	Young		2m x 4m
Big Chook	Moonbi	1970s	2m x 4m
Big Chook (2)	Mt Vernon		4m x 4m
Big Flower	Ourimbah
The Big Gold Panner	Bathurst		5m x 3m
The Big Golden Guitar [2]	Tamworth	1988	12m x 4m	Modelled on the Golden Guitar trophies given to winners at the Country Music Awards of Australia ceremony night during the Tamworth Country Music Festival.
The Big Lamb	Guyra	1988		Erected by the town & district to promote the lamb and potato industries in New England. The lamb is stood over a potato plant.
The Big Merino [3]	Goulburn	1985	15m x 18m	Goulburn and The Big Merino were bypassed by the freeway in 1994, leading to a reduction in visitor numbers. On May 26, 2007 Rambo (as the Merino is locally known) was relocated by low-loader to a new home within sight of the Hume Highway.[3]
The Big Miner's Lamp	Lithgow
Big Mosquito	Hexham	1993		Ossie the Mossie at the Hexham Bowls Club is modelled on the local Hexham Grey mosquito species.
Big Murray Cod	Tocumwal		2m x 7m
Big Orange	Tenterfield
The Big Oyster	Taree		12m x 4m
The Big Playable Guitar	Narrandera	1991	6m x 2m	The largest playable guitar in the world.
The Big Potato [4]	Robertson
The Big Poo [5]	Kiama	2002	1m x 5m
The Big Prawn	Ballina	1989	6m x 9m
The World's biggest Sundial	Singleton
The Big Trout	Adaminaby	1973	10m x 3m	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.[4]
The Big Trout [6]	Oberon
Big Windmill	Coffs Harbour
The Big Wine Bottle	Pokolbin	1998	7m x 1.5m	Located at the Hunter Valley Gardens [7]. The neck forms a chimney for an open fire contained within.
The Big Wine Cask	Wentworth		8m x 6m

Northern Territory

Name	Location	Built	Size	Notes	Image
The Big Boxing Crocodile	Humpty Doo		8m x 8m
The Big Stockwhip	Acacia		7m x 10m
The Big Stubbie	Larrimah

Queensland

Name	Location	Built	Size	Notes	Image
The Big Apple	Thulimbah		4m x 3m
Big Banana	North Mackay
The Big Barramundi	Normanton		6m x 2m
The Big Barramundi	Daintree		6m x 2m
The Big Brolga	Townsville
Big Bulls	Rockhampton
The Big Cane Toad	Sarina
The Big Captain Cook	Cairns		7m x 2m
The Big Cassowary	Mission Beach		5m x 5m
The Big Cow	Yandina		6m x 10m
Big Crab	Cardwell
Big Crab	Miriam Vale
Big Crocodile	Daintree
Big Crocodile	Hartleys Creek
Big Crocodile	Normanton
The Big Dugong	Rockhampton
The Big Dinosaur	Ballandean
The Big Easel	Emerald
Big Golf Ball	Broadbeach
The Big Golden Gumboot	Tully	2003	8m x 6m
The Big Gun	Underwood			A 155 mm field gun mounted on top of a two-story fruit shop. The gun was in a metal scrap yard that occupied the site in the 1960s before the shops and offices were built in the 70s.
The Big Hard Rock Guitar	Surfers Paradise		10m x 3m
The Big Macadamia Nut	Nambour		5m x 10m
The Big Mandarin	Mundubbera		11m x 15m
The Big Mango	Bowen	2002	12m x 8m
The Big Marlin	Cairns		8m x 2m
Big Merino	Blackall
The Big Miner	Rubyvale
The Big Mower	Beerwah
The Big Ned Kelly	Maryborough		8m x 2m
The Big Orange	Gayndah
The Big Paperclip	West End, Brisbane		3m x 2m
The Big Peanut	North Tolga, Queensland
The Big Pelican	Noosaville			Mounted on a motorised float in parkland next to the Noosa River
The Big Pick, Shovel and Sieve	Sapphire
The Big Pie	Yatala		4.5m diameter	Mounted atop a 10m pole next to the car park of the Yatala Pies drive-through pie shop.
Big Pineapple	Gympie
The Big Pineapple	Woombye	1971	16m x 6m
The Big Pumpkin	Beaudesert
The Big Red Elephant	Lockyer Valley
The Big Redback	Eight Mile Plains, Brisbane	1996	3m x 3m
The Big Rum Bottle	Bundaberg	6m x 1m
The Big Sapphire	Anakie
The Big Sapphire Ring	Sapphire
The Big Sausage	Mooloolaba
The Big Shell	Tewantin		3m x 1m
The Big Shoe	Chermside			A large shoe mounted on the roof of a car sales yard on the corner of Rode and Gympie Roads. Has subequently been pulled down to make way for a new caryard.
The Big Spanner	Sapphire
The Big Stubby	Tewantin		9m x 4m
The Big Whale	Kinka Beach

South Australia

Name	Location	Built	Size	Notes	Image
The Australian Farmer	Wudinna	2008	8m
The Big Galah	Kimba	1993	8m x 2.5m
The Big Kangaroo	Border Village	1986	5m x 2m
The Big Lobster	Kingston SE	1979	17m x 15m x 13m	Known locally as "Larry", the Big Lobster was designed and built by Paul Kelly (who also designed the Big Scotsman) as a means of attracting attention to the visitor centre and restaurant at which it is located. It was built in six months out of a steel frame with a fiberglass shell. The size is said to have been an error: the original plans were drawn in feet, but the designer misinterpreted them to be metres.[5]
Map the Miner	Kapunda	1988	8m x 2m	Named Map Kernow, the "son of Cornwall", Map the Miner represents the Cornish miners who once worked at the town of Kapunda. Standing at the southern end of the town, the work was built by Ben van Zetten and opened on 5 June 1988.[6] The statue was destroyed by a fire in 2006,[7] but has since been rebuilt.[8]
The Big Olive	Tailem Bend	2009	11m	The Big Olive was constructed to attract tourists to The Big Olive processing plant and vistors center. Located just outside of Tailem Bend, it consists of two olives — one green and one black — which together stand at 8 metres (26 ft) and weigh over 1 tonne. The olives were constructed out of fiberglass by The Newell Group, and were placed on the site in April, 2005.[9]
The Big Orange	Berri	1980	15m x 12m	Located in the South Australian Riverland, the Big Orange was constructed with fiberglass panels covering a steel frame, with the entire structure weighing in the vicinity of 85 tonnes.[10][11] The structure consists of three levels, with a function room on the first floor, a souvenir shop and cafe on the second, a mural depicting the local scenery on the third, and a lookout on the fourth.[12]
The Big Pelican	Loxton	1992
The Big Ram (male sheep)	Karoonda	2003	2m x 3m
The Big Rocking Horse	Gumeracha	1981	18m x 17m	Part of a complex that includes a wooden toy factory and a wildlife park, the Big Rocking Horse in the Adelaide Hills stands at over 18 metres tall and weighs more that 25 tonnes. Designed by David McIntosh, it took eight months to build at a cost of over $100,000. The steel structure incorporates three viewing platforms.[13]
The Big Scotsman	Medindie, (Adelaide)	1963	5m x 1m
The Big Winch	Coober Pedy	1986	8m x 5m

Tasmania

Name	Location	Built	Size	Notes	Image
Big Apple	Spreyton
The Big Coffee Pot	Deloraine
The Big Penguin	Penguin	1975	3m x 1m	Constructed from fibro cement to mark the centenary of the proclamation of the township of Penguin. Unveiled 25 October 1975.
The Big Platypus [8]	Latrobe
The Big Spud	Sassafras
The Big Tasmanian Devil	Mole Creek		2m x 3m
The Big Slide Rule [9]	University of Tasmania (Hobart)			Located in the School of Mathematics and Physics.

Victoria

Name	Location	Built	Size	Notes	Image
Big Abalone	Laverton North			A fibre glass replica of an abalone that sits illuminated and rotating atop a 5.3 m tower at the Plummer Road premises of the Australian Abalone Exports office.
Big Apple	Bacchus Marsh
The Big Cherry	Glenrowan
Big Cigar	Churchill			Replica of Sir Winston Churchill's cigar, after whom the town is named
Big Dead Fish	Fish Creek			Positioned on the roof of the Fishy Pub.
The Giant Koala	Dadswells Bridge		14m x 8m	The Big Koala is 27 km north-west of Stawell in the small township of Dadswells Bridge. The Koala is 14m high, and weighs 12 tonnes. Made of bronze set on a steel frame. The sculptor is Mr Ben Van Zetton and was hired in 1988 to design and construct the piece.
Big Mallee Bull	Birchip
Big Mallee Root	Ouyen
Big Miner	Ballarat	opened December 1 2006
Giant Murray Cod	Swan Hill		3m x 9m
The Big Ned Kelly	Glenrowan		6m x 2m
The Big Pheasant	Tynong		8m x 17m
The Big Purse	Melbourne		1m x 2m
The world's largest Rolling Pin	Wodonga
Big Smoke	Myrtleford
Big Strawberry	Koonoomoo		2m x 4m
Big Watermelon	Wantirna South
Big Wool Bales	Hamilton		3m x 12m
The Giant Worm	Bass		250m x 4m

Western Australia

Name	Location	Built	Size	Notes	Image
Bert Bolle Barometer	Denmark	1985	Over 12.5 metres	A working water barometer being the largest barometer in the world, recognized by the International Guinness Book of Records. Built in the Netherlands by Bert Bolle and donated to the community of Denmark in 2007. The barometer is considered a monument and carries the name ’The Bert Bolle Barometer’. It is set up in The Barometer Tower in the Denmark Visitor Centre.
Big Apple	Donnybrook		7m x 4m
Big Banana	Carnarvon		6m x 1m
The Big Camera	Meckering
Cow on the Corner	Brunswick Junction		5m x 1.5m
The Big Crocodile	Wyndham		18m x 3m
Big Orange	Harvey		2m diameter
The Giant Ram	Wagin		10m x 8m
Leeuwin Way Whale	Eucla		10m x 3m

In popular culture

• The London production of 'Priscilla, Queen of the Desert the Musical' references the Big Prawn, Big Merino, Big Pineapple and the Big Banana.
• The ABC produced a documentary titled Big Things as part of its programme The Big Picture.
• The National Museum in Canberra has a comprehensive multimedia exhibit displaying many Big Things.
• In 2007 Australia Post issued a set of 50c postage stamps commemorating five of the most iconic Big Things:
  • The Big Banana at Coffs Harbour (NSW).
  • The Big Golden Guitar at Tamworth (NSW).
  • The Big Lobster at Kingston SE (SA).
  • The Big Merino at Goulburn (NSW).
  • The Big Pineapple at Nambour (QLD).[10]
• Danny Wallace mentions Australia's big things in his book Yes Man.
• Travel writer Bill Bryson details his visit to the Big Lobster in his book Down Under / In a Sunburned Country

References

See also

• New Zealand's big things
• List of World's Largest Roadside Attractions
• Novelty architecture
• Dunedoo, New South Wales, which decided against "The Big Dunny"

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Big Things of Australia

External links

• Australian Big Things Comprehensive list of Australian big things, big things statistics and photographs
• ABC Online - Friends, Family and Big Things - photographs of Australian Big Things, including lesser known examples
• Big Things Guide Learn all about this great Australian art form, marvel at the photos or add stories of your encounters, in Travelmate's BIG THINGS.
• Coastalsurvey Big Stuff in Australia. Coastalsurvey found some notable additions -- including the big lobster.