The Easter long weekend is approaching, and a good proportion of Sydneysiders will find themselves on the road this weekend. To spice up the journey, you might want to consider making a detour via one of our state’s big things – the absurd novelty sculptures scattered across NSW and beyond.
Australia is home to more than 150 “big things”, and around a third of them are here in NSW – making ours, arguably, the patron state of oversized sculptures.
To bring a little brightness to your weekend away, we’ve rounded up five of our favourites.
1. The Big Merino
Location: Goulburn, NSW
The story: Like many big things, the Big Merino is a testament to the prime industries of its locale. Goulburn is known for its wool industry, and the giant Merino ram was built in 1985 and modelled after a stud ram of the time called Rambo. After the Goulburn bypass was completed in the early 1990s, the sculpture became cut off from the bulk of the Hume Highway’s traffic – consequently, the Big Merino was moved almost a kilometre in 2007 to make it more accessible to passing travellers. The Big Merino also has a gift shop where you can buy locally grown wool items.
Relative size: The Big Merino is 15.2 metres high, 18 metres long and weighs 97 tonnes. Your standard Merino ram is around 1 metre tall and 80 to 100 kilograms, making the Big Merino 15 times larger and around 970 times heavier than the real thing.
Realism: Pretty good! This big woolly boy really does look true to life, albeit significantly larger. His woollen coat is textured, his horns curly and he even comes complete with testicles for the ultimate in anatomical realism.
2. The Big Banana
Location: Coffs Harbour, NSW
The story: The big ‘nana is one of Australia’s oldest big things, having been constructed in 1964 as a way to get travellers to stop at a local banana stand. The Big Banana is now an amusement park where you can go tobogganing, play mini-golf, hit the waterslides and enjoy arcade games.
Relative size: This banana is five metres high and 13 metres long, or roughly 86 times larger than your average banana.
Realism: Excellent, apart from the fact that “The Big Banana, Coffs Harbour” is printed on its side.
3. The Big Potato
Location: Robertson, NSW
The story: Back in 1977, local potato farmer Jim Mauger decided to build a whopping great monument to one of Robertson’s main crops, the potato. The big brown blob was originally also supposed to be hollow, with the interior containing a potato information centre.
Relative size: The big ‘tato is roughly 10 metres by 4 metres and is modelled off a Sebago potato, making it roughly 1,000 times larger than your average 10cm spud.
Realism: Unkind commentators have in the past made comparisons between the big potato and a big poop due to its earthy colour and vaguely oval shape. But if you imagine the artist was trying to recreate a freshly unearthed, really dirty potato, the monolithic tuber gets a pass.
4. The Big Bench
Location: Broken Hill, NSW
The story: The Big Bench was built on top of a hill of mining deposits, as part of the Landscapes and Backgrounds exhibition in 2002. It seats eight people or one BFG. Plus, Broken Hill was named the second best Aussie town to visit this year.
Relative size: It’s big, but not that much bigger than a normal bench, at just 2.5 times its size.
Realism: Looks and functions just like a bench, but bigger. Ten points.
5. The Big Prawn
Location: Ballina, NSW
The story: This colossal crustacean was originally built in 1989 (the '80s were wild) but the local council fell out of love with it in 2009, voting to allow its demolition. Bunnings Warehouse stepped in two years later, purchasing the prawn and refurbishing it – even finally bequeathing the prawn a tail.
Relative size: Good luck throwing another one of these on the barbie. The Big Prawn is 9 metres tall and weighs 35 tonnes, meaning it’s roughly a whopping 128 times larger than a normal tiger prawn.
Realism: Gorgeous. This is the Miss Australia of prawns with a realistic paint job and attention to all the creepy wiggly bits that make prawns prawns.
Stay in the loop: sign up for our free Time Out Sydney newsletter for more news, travel inspo and activity ideas, straight to your inbox.