Big Things

Australia is aware of the fact that driving huge distances can get a bit boring, so they decided to make journeys more interesting by making ‘big things’ out of concrete and putting them in particularly uninteresting places beside the road, to give motorists something to do.

The first ‘big thing’ we saw was the Big Banana just outside Coffs Harbour. This was the first ‘big thing’ in Australia, and is still the best. It advertised itself as the most photographed object in Australia, which is a bold claim in a country which has Uluru in it. Still, both Pie and I added our names to the people who have photographed it. The Big Banana has an advantage over some of the ‘big things’, in that you are able to walk through it, as well as ogle it from afar. The banana advertises an actual banana plantation, and the owners did not miss a trick as a whole banana-themed theme park has grown up around the plantation. Pie and I stopped for banana smoothies, but did not go for the chocolate covered bananas on sticks. We had a look in the banana gift shop, but did not buy anything. However, the banana guards for protecting bananas from getting squashed in your bag sounded like a very good idea to me.

After the excitement of the Big Banana, the Big Prawn was a relative disappointment. You can’t walk through it, and it is only there advertising a seafood restaurant. Obviously, we still stopped for a photograph…