Australia - A Big Land
Created | Updated May 27, 2003
In 1963, The Big Banana was built in Coffs Harbour, NSW, Australia - and a whole new field of tourism was born. Australia now boasts more than 80 "bigs".
So what are these "bigs"? Usually they take the form of some type of fresh produce, the main industry of the area in which the particular "big" is displayed, however grossly oversized and usually made of concrete and/or fibreglass. Developers of the "bigs" believed that their own particular "big" would be a major drawcard for their area and increase the tourist dollar. But has this worked?
With a few notable exceptions the answer would have to be "no". The majority of the "bigs" are of substandard quality and have little entertainment value. Some are merely adornments to highway service stations (built in the 1980's).
However, the Big Banana and the Big Pineapple are quite different. Two of the original "bigs", (the Big Pineapple was built in Nambour, Queensland in 1972), these have grown into full scale tourist parks, with wildlife and farmyard displays, educational train rides through the farms and a dazzling array of souvenirs and mouth-watering desserts.
So what of the other bigs? Well, here are just a few that you may wish to view on a tour of the "big" brown land.
The Big Merino - Goulburn, NSW
The Big Oyster - Taree, NSW
The Big Prawn - Ballina, NSW (these three are of the petrol station variety)
The Big Orange - variously found at Berri, SA and Gayndah, Qld
The Big Pineapple (mark 2) - Gympie, Qld (another service station)
The Big Mango - Bowen, Qld (reportedly the most recent "big")
The Big Avocado - Duranbah, Qld
The Big Shell - Tewantin, Qld
The Big Bull - Wauchope, NSW
The Big Cow - Nambour, Qld (no longer open for business)
The Big Apple - Stanthorpe, Qld
The Big Cheese - Bega, NSW
The Big Guitar - Tamworth, NSW (home of The Country Music Festival)
The Big Macadamia - Nambour, Qld (part of The Big Pineapple complex)
The Big Peanut - Kingaroy, Qld
The Big Trout - Adaminaby, NSW
The Big Sapphire - Anakie, Qld
So what are these "bigs"? Usually they take the form of some type of fresh produce, the main industry of the area in which the particular "big" is displayed, however grossly oversized and usually made of concrete and/or fibreglass. Developers of the "bigs" believed that their own particular "big" would be a major drawcard for their area and increase the tourist dollar. But has this worked?
With a few notable exceptions the answer would have to be "no". The majority of the "bigs" are of substandard quality and have little entertainment value. Some are merely adornments to highway service stations (built in the 1980's).
However, the Big Banana and the Big Pineapple are quite different. Two of the original "bigs", (the Big Pineapple was built in Nambour, Queensland in 1972), these have grown into full scale tourist parks, with wildlife and farmyard displays, educational train rides through the farms and a dazzling array of souvenirs and mouth-watering desserts.
So what of the other bigs? Well, here are just a few that you may wish to view on a tour of the "big" brown land.
The Big Merino - Goulburn, NSW
The Big Oyster - Taree, NSW
The Big Prawn - Ballina, NSW (these three are of the petrol station variety)
The Big Orange - variously found at Berri, SA and Gayndah, Qld
The Big Pineapple (mark 2) - Gympie, Qld (another service station)
The Big Mango - Bowen, Qld (reportedly the most recent "big")
The Big Avocado - Duranbah, Qld
The Big Shell - Tewantin, Qld
The Big Bull - Wauchope, NSW
The Big Cow - Nambour, Qld (no longer open for business)
The Big Apple - Stanthorpe, Qld
The Big Cheese - Bega, NSW
The Big Guitar - Tamworth, NSW (home of The Country Music Festival)
The Big Macadamia - Nambour, Qld (part of The Big Pineapple complex)
The Big Peanut - Kingaroy, Qld
The Big Trout - Adaminaby, NSW
The Big Sapphire - Anakie, Qld
