The Big Banana

Australia's first Big Thing, a 13-metre concrete banana on the Pacific Highway

The Big Banana is now the front gate of a small amusement park on the highway just north of Coffs Harbour, with a water park, ice-skating rink, mini-golf and toboggan run aimed squarely at families breaking the Sydney–Brisbane drive. The banana itself you can walk through; the inside is a small exhibit on the local industry. The cafe serves chocolate-dipped frozen bananas, which is the right thing to order.

It is unapologetically kitsch and you should not pretend otherwise. Allow ninety minutes if you are travelling with children; thirty if not. Free to enter the site, individual rides cost extra.

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A story
Built in 1964 by banana grower John Landi, the Big Banana started the great Australian roadside-kitsch tradition: thirteen metres long, painted bright yellow, and pointed at the Pacific Highway. Within a decade every Australian town wanted its own Big Thing, and the country now has over 150 of them — the Big Pineapple, the Big Lobster, the Big Merino, and so on. The Big Banana is the original.

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