Australia’s Big Things

Australia’s Big Things are something that capture the imagination of many travellers to Australia. Whether it’s to take a selfie in front of just for fun, to admire the big object, to have a laugh, or just to be able to use the excuse to stop off on a long road trip around Australia! The Big Things can potentially add something to your journey with some being really exciting and others perhaps more than a little underwhelming!

Probably like most backpackers at one point I decided that I’d like to travel all around the vast land “Down Under” visiting all of Australia’s Big Things and writing a book about it. Well, I haven’t quite achieved that mission yet, but I have visited some, with my count resting at around 50 of Australia Big Things! and seen even more through a car window on various road trips in Australia. Some people say there’s around 150 Big Things in Australia, but I would guess there are a lot more, with only certain ones being able to be counted as REALLY BIG!

Some of the visits to Australia’s Big Things have been very memorable. There was the time I drove an hour in the car with my daughter, to show her the Big Merino at Goulburn. I was sure that she would be as excited as I was to see the giant sheep! Unfortunately to a 5 year old this Big Aussie Thing is apparently quite frightening and as soon as my daughter saw the giant sheep looming against the sky she dissolved into floods of tears! Luckily the trip was not a complete disaster as we combined the visit with a stop at Trapper’s Bakery across the road which my daughter loved!

It wasn’t until 2024 that I discovered you can climb up inside the Big Merino and so we did return for another visit and did just that – climbing right up inside the giant-sized sheep – to peer out of the top of it. The most ghastly part of which was seeing all the rubbish that people had littered around inside the Giant Merino! Still it’s worth a visit, especially if combined with a stop at Trapper’s for a hot sausage roll. There’s also a souvenir shop at the base of the Giant Merino which sells various souvenirs and some very lovely but pricey Merino socks and gloves – perfect for those Canberra winters.

What defines whether an object is counted as one of Australia’s Big Things?

This is all up for debate. There could be contention over how many Big Things there are in Australia, what classifies as a Big Thing and it also seems that some of the REALLY BIG AUSTRALIA THINGS, have actually moved location, and some have disappeared or fallen into wrack and ruin, causing more uproar, confusion and discussion over where they are or what happened to them!

Personally I don’t think there’s any hard or fast rules. If it’s big and obscure, interesting, intrigues you on some level, is larger than the object would be in the real-world, then hey why not count it?! There are some Big Things and then there are some REALLY BIG Things. There are also some really naff Big Things not worth detouring for and then some INCREDIBLE Big Things that you really should visit and could spend a WHOLE DAY at with plenty of fun for the whole family!

Australia’s Big Things we have visited:

Australian Capital Territory – ACT – Canberra

• The Big Acorn, National Arboretum, Canberra. If you have children, it’s a must-see!
• The not so big Angel of the North, in the gardens of the National Art Gallery of Australia (NGA).
• The Big Bunyip, outside the Library in Gunghalin.
• The Big Coins, at the Australian Mint, Deakin.
• The Big Cube, city centre, behind the Canberra Centre.
• The Big Dinosaurs at the National Dinosaur Museum, Gold Creek, Canberra.
• The Big Flamin’ Galahs, Watson.
• The Big Magpie aka The Big Swoop. This can now claim to be one of Australia’s Big Things that moves around! First located in Garema Place it has moved fairly recently due to building works.
• The Giant Mushroom, Belconnen. Sadly no more! This used to be an awesome place to take toddlers and younger kids, as the Mushroom doubled-up as a brilliant playground with lots of fruit and veg inspired slogans and decoration, right next to the fresh fruit and veg markets.
• The Big Shiny Ouroboros, outside the National Art Gallery of Australia (NGA).
• The Big Pears, also outside the National Gallery of Australia (NGA).
• The Big Owl, Belconnen.
• The Big Platypus at Amaroo shops.
• The Big Bogong Moth Sculpture.
• The Big Gay Rainbow Roundabout in Braddon.
• The Big Thorny Devil, Australian Botanic Gardens, Acton, Canberra.

New South Wales – NSW

• The Big Banana.
• The Big Boot, Bungendore.
• The Big Cheese, Bodalla.
• The Big Cherries at Young.
• The Big Cloggs, Coffs Harbour.
• The Big Cow, at the Cheese factory.
• The Big Doll, Bungendore. This may have moved now.
• The Dog on the Tucker Box.
• The REALLY BIG Golden Guitar, Tamworth Music Festival.
• The Big Golf Ball, Coffs Harbour.
• The Big Koala. Near the Dog on the Tucker Box.
• Lunar Park – The Big Face of Lunar Park, Sydney, NSW.
• The Big Platypus, Queanbeyan.
• The Big Potato. Robertson. Possibly the most underwhelming Big Thing we’ve ever seen – partly due to it being such a grey day and the potato blending into the sky when we visited!
• The Big Prawn, Ballina.
• The Big Windmill, Coffs Harbour.
• The Big Wombat, Wombat.

Northern Territory – NT

• The Big Turtle.

Queensland – QLD

• The Big upside down Elephant, outside the Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA), Brisbane.
• The Big Pineapple, Sunshine coast, Queensland. You can defo enjoy some family fun here with a train ride around the plantation (for a price) plus paid entry to the Zoo here. There’s also a small booth with Big Pineapple souvenirs.
• The Big Red Pillars – this is known as the border between NSW and QLD.

Victoria – VIC

• The Big Ned Kelly, Glenrowan, High Country, Victoria. You could spend a day out here!

Tasmania 

• The Big Penguin.

Australia’s Big Things we’ve glimpsed out the window:

• Various Painted Silos. The Big Silos! There’s plenty of adventures to be had if you would like to see all the silo art around Australia.
• The Big Apple, Yerrinbool. Sighted from the Hume Highway.
• The Big Bunch of Bananas, Coffs Harbour. Just off Pacific Highway.
• The Big Pie – pretty sure I’ve seen one of these, just can’t remember where!

Near misses – Australia’s Big Things that we have missed by a whisker:

• The Big Wine Bottle in Polkobin. We went to a festival and stayed a night here but somehow missed it.
• The Big Apples – we have passed nearby a couple of these, forgetting to go visit. There are at least 3 and we have definitely seen at least one of them from the highway with the others being near misses including the Big Apple in Tatlow, NSW, which we have been near a number of times, forgetting to detour to go see it, as well as driving near to Tallong, home to The Big Apple.
• The Big Cherry, Glenrowan. Although we visited Glenrowan and saw the Big Ned Kelly, we didn’t see any sign of a Big Cherry. Apparently owners removed it from their property a long time ago.