Roadside Australia
A genuinely Australian habit: build something enormous out of fibreglass and concrete, put it beside a highway, and watch people stop. Here is where they are and which road they sit on.
| Big Thing | Town | State | Built | Which road |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Big Banana | Coffs Harbour | NSW | 1964 | Directly on the Pacific Highway, north side of Coffs Harbour |
| The Big Pineapple | Woombye | QLD | 1971 | 10 minutes off the Bruce Highway near Nambour |
| The Big Merino ('Rambo') | Goulburn | NSW | 1985 | Hume Highway, Sydney–Melbourne route |
| The Big Prawn | Ballina | NSW | 1989 | Pacific Highway at Ballina, on the way to Byron |
| The Big Lobster ('Larry') | Kingston SE | SA | 1979 | Princes Highway between Melbourne and Adelaide |
| The Big Golden Guitar | Tamworth | NSW | 1988 | New England Highway, southern entrance to Tamworth |
| The Big Ram | Wagin | WA | 1985 | Great Southern Highway, 2h 30m south-east of Perth |
| The Big Crocodile ('Krys') | Normanton | QLD | 1997 | On the Savannah Way in the Gulf Country |
| The Big Penguin | Penguin | TAS | 1975 | Bass Highway between Burnie and Devonport |
| The Big Koala | Dadswells Bridge | VIC | 1989 | Western Highway, Melbourne–Adelaide route near the Grampians |
| The Big Boxing Crocodile | Humpty Doo | NT | 1988 | Arnhem Highway, Darwin → Kakadu |
| The Big Mushrooms | Belconnen | ACT | 1980s | Northbourne Avenue corridor, Canberra |
NSW
Coffs Harbour · built 1964
The one that started the trend. Now attached to a full fun park; the banana itself is free to walk up to and photograph from the car park.
Directly on the Pacific Highway, north side of Coffs Harbour
NSW travel guide →QLD
Woombye · built 1971
16 m tall, heritage-listed since 2009. You can climb the internal stairs to the viewing deck.
10 minutes off the Bruce Highway near Nambour
QLD travel guide →NSW
Goulburn · built 1985
15.2 m of concrete ram, moved 800 m in 2007 to sit closer to the highway. Free entry, three levels, wool shop at the base.
Hume Highway, Sydney–Melbourne route
NSW travel guide →NSW
Ballina · built 1989
Slated for demolition in 2009, saved and restored in 2013 — including finally getting the tail it never had.
Pacific Highway at Ballina, on the way to Byron
NSW travel guide →SA
Kingston SE · built 1979
17 m. Legend has it the designer worked in feet and the builder read it as metres — the story is probably apocryphal but the town leans into it.
Princes Highway between Melbourne and Adelaide
SA travel guide →NSW
Tamworth · built 1988
12 m replica of the Golden Guitar trophy awarded at the Tamworth Country Music Festival each January.
New England Highway, southern entrance to Tamworth
NSW travel guide →WA
Wagin · built 1985
13 m merino in the Wheatbelt, a genuine roadside stop rather than an attached theme park.
Great Southern Highway, 2h 30m south-east of Perth
WA travel guide →QLD
Normanton · built 1997
A life-size 8.63 m replica of a saltwater crocodile shot near the Norman River in 1957 — the largest reliably recorded. It is a useful visual for exactly why you do not swim in Gulf rivers.
On the Savannah Way in the Gulf Country
QLD travel guide →TAS
Penguin · built 1975
3.15 m fairy penguin on the north-west coast, built for the town's centenary. Real little penguins come ashore nearby at dusk in season.
Bass Highway between Burnie and Devonport
TAS travel guide →VIC
Dadswells Bridge · built 1989
14 m, concrete over a steel frame, sitting on the highway approach to the Grampians.
Western Highway, Melbourne–Adelaide route near the Grampians
VIC travel guide →NT
Humpty Doo · built 1988
8 m croc in boxing gloves, 40 minutes out of Darwin on the road to Kakadu.
Arnhem Highway, Darwin → Kakadu
NT travel guide →ACT
Belconnen · built 1980s
A cluster of oversized fibreglass mushrooms, moved and restored over the years — Canberra's contribution to the trail and a genuinely obscure one.
Northbourne Avenue corridor, Canberra
ACT travel guide →There are well over 150 Big Things around the country and the count keeps moving as new ones go up and old ones are demolished. This list covers the ones on major touring routes rather than attempting the lot.
