It seems like everything is bigger in Australia. The sky. The distances. The welcome. So it should come as no surprise that the country is also home to Big Things – a cult phenomenon in which Australians have built and sculpted enormous objects. Think giant prawns, enormous mangoes and huge cows.

Click through the gallery to see our favourites around the country (they're as brilliant as they are bizarre)... 

This enormous fruit has been proudly on display at Coffs Harbour for more than 60 years now, ever since John Landi decided to erect the Big Banana to attract passing traffic to his banana stall. It's said to be Australia's first ever Big Thing, and it became such a popular attraction that Landi eventually built a cafe, shop and car park for visitors. Today it's part of The Big Banana Fun Park: there's a waterpark, laser tag arena, ice skating rink, toboggan ride and much more inside the grounds.

A one-time iconic Big Cow on the Sunshine Coast that was sculpted by Hugh Anderson in the 1970s has been given a new lease of life at Highfields Pioneer Village, north of Toowoomba. The Big Cow was cut in two pieces to be trucked here in 2020 after it had fallen into disrepair.

The Big Pineapple typically draws up to a million visitors per year and it's so well-loved it was added to the Queensland Heritage Register in 2009. It was even visited by Prince Charles and Princess Diana on their tour of Australia in the 1980s. Originally an early attempt at agri-tourism, the 52-foot (16m) high pineapple was part of a larger plantation. Today there are shops, a zoo and a treetops rope course here. 

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Buffy – a nickname born from the scientific name bufo marinus – is a giant, fibreglass cane toad. Originally made from papier-mache in 1983 and used on a float during the Sarina sugar festival, he was eventually cast into weather-resistant permanence in honour of the town's cane-farming industry.

Kingston's Big Lobster is quite the sight. Larry, as he's been named by locals, has had a number of owners during his nearly five decades. He was the brainchild of Ian Backler, during the construction of a visitor centre for the town. Paul Kelly – a Big Things builder with a number of enormous constructions under his belt – designed and erected the lobster with Ian's help. Larger-than-life Larry is 55-feet (17m) tall and he weighs around four tonnes.

In the so-called 'Beef Capital of Australia', it's fitting to find six big bull statues scattered across the city of Rockhampton. These bovines haven't had an easy life, though. Some residents feel they overplay the role of beef in Rockhampton's economy and think they should be removed. Others have taken to stealing the bulls' testicles – a prank that occurs regularly and results in them being replaced each time.

As with many of the Big Things throughout Oz, this mango in Bowen is a tribute to the local industry: mango farming. The fibreglass fruit cost AU$90,000 (around £47k/$60k) when it was first built in 2002. Weighing in at seven tonnes, it's the largest mango sculpture in the world. Around 12 years into its life outside the city's tourist information centre, the mango was stolen in the dead of night. Found nearby, it later transpired that the whole thing was a publicity stunt by chicken restaurant Nando's to promote its new mango sauce.

Some Big Things are simply for show, but others have a more practical use. This giant golf ball at Mermaid Beach on Queensland's Gold Coast marks the entrance to Putt Putt Golf – a series of themed golf courses that make for a delightful family day out. Visitors certainly won't get lost thanks to this grinning golf ball.

This enormous crab rather fittingly sits atop a Shell service station. Erected to advertise the crab sandwiches sold in the adjoining restaurant, it no doubt turns a few heads as visitors pass through this small town to refuel.

This smiling mango is more than just a big fruit: it's the mascot for Alf Poefinger's Frosty Mango ice cream shop. A hugely popular stop since the late 1980s, the parlour is famous for serving up unusual flavours of ice cream like dragonfruit and jaboticaba. And mango, of course.

Set in the Adelaide Hills, this giant, 25-tonne rocking horse is a prime attraction. Standing at almost 60 feet (18m), the structure was completed in 1981 and was designed as part of a family entertainment complex. Today, the horse still stands proud, enticing passing cars to stop and explore the wildlife park and wooden toy factory.

Designed by artist Pro Hart and built in 1980, the Big Ant was donated to Broken Hill – one of the country's most remote towns – in 1990. It now sits atop a wooden structure, overlooking the desert town in Australia's Red Centre. More of Hart's work can be seen and purchased in his nearby gallery.

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This remote Outback town has another Big Thing too: a giant park bench that has been making even the tallest of people look small since 2002. It's not all fun and games here though, as the bench sits above a mine where hundreds of people died working below ground. The nearby Miner's Memorial is a striking construction that remembers those whose lives were lost.

This oversized axe stands near the tourist information centre at Kew. First built in 1979 then replaced in 2002 after ants damaged the wood, the axe is usually a popular stop off for tourists travelling between Port Stephens and Coffs Harbour. There's tea and coffee in the nearby visitor centre too.

Built in 1997, this huge bike is made out of recycled materials and sits right outside a waste and recycling centre. While it's not exactly the most enticing place for a tourist attraction, the bike is impressive all the same. It's around 27-feet (8m) long and 18-feet (5m) high, so there's absolutely no concern about it getting stolen.

There's surely only one use for a titanic chicken sculpture. To advertise an egg shop, right? That's exactly what this chicken, or 'chook', is doing. The huge bird sits right outside a farm in Mount Vernon where you can buy – you guessed it – eggs, as well as chicken mince, quail meat, frozen foods and more.

This 40-foot (12m) tall guitar is a fitting tribute to the country music scene in Tamworth. It's a huge replica of the trophy handed out at the Country Music Awards of Australia, usually held in the town every year, and is one of the most-photographed Big Things Down Under. 

Not one for arachnophobes, this huge spider can be found crawling down the water tower in Urana. Created by local artist Andrew Whitehead, it's made from old pieces of piping and tubing. The eight-legged monster is a reference to the local football team, which used to be called The Spiders.

Take the Arnhem Highway between Darwin and Kakadu National Park and you'll spot a rather large predator en route: the Big Boxing Crocodile of Humpty Doo. The 26-foot (8m) tall croc stands close to a United petrol station and wears big red boxing gloves, ready for a fight. It was built in 1988 and is a reference to the large population of crocodiles in the area. Let's just hope there aren't any live ones this big!

This huge ram, named Rambo, opened in 1985 and moved closer to the Highway in 2007. Rambo is a celebration of Goulburn's fine wool industry. Modelled on a real-life sheep from a nearby farm, the ram is almost 60-feet (18m) long and 50-feet (15m) high. He weighs in at 97 tonnes. The nearby Big Merino gift shop sells merino wool clothing for adults and kids, as well as mohair rugs and distinctive hats.

Almost 30-feet (9m) long, this big old slice of watermelon would be a wonderful refreshment on a hot day. Unfortunately, it's not real and was constructed in 2018 as a celebration of Chinchilla's watermelon-growing industry. It was built by travel website Wotif, as part of the 'Next Big Thing' campaign in which Australians voted for what should be the next Big Thing to go up in the country. The melon beat a Big Peanut and a Big Tulip, apparently. 

Kneeling outside the Bobby Dazzler Sapphire Mine, the Big Miner is grasping a clump of rock, in which there would no doubt have been some of the precious stones this area is famous for. A popular place for fossicking – searching for gold or other treasures – the mine usually draws locals and visitors hoping to find sapphires buried in the ground.

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This rather fine-looking fish would feed quite the crowd if it were real. But alas, made of fibreglass, it's certainly not for consumption. At 32-feet (10m) high, it was built by local artist Andy Lomnici and completed in 1973.

The cassowary is a bird native to northeastern Australia, so this 16-foot (5m) high creature should feel right at home in Mission Beach. It's about two and a half times taller than a real-life cassowary, though, and it's certainly not as scary – the species has a reputation for being dangerous to humans and other animals.

This enormous bottle of beer, or 'stubby' as they're called in Australia, sits outside the Larrimah Pink Panther Hotel. Established in Larrimah in 1952 (having been originally built in Birdum), the hotel gained local notoriety for its giant stubby and the Pink Panther statue that sits before its entrance.

There's more than one reason to stop at this Big Thing in Queensland. This rather tempting pie stands tall above Yatala Pies. When it opened in 1914 the pie shop sold 200 pies a day to the locals. Now it sells around 3,500 a day, plus plenty of sweets and pastries. With choices like steak and mushroom and lamb coconut curry, the bakery is hailed as an institution. 

Unveiled in 2018 after two decades of discussion, the Big Thermometer is the latest Big Thing attraction in Stanthorpe. Said to be the coldest town in Queensland, the enormous – AU$100,000 (£51k/$67k) – thermometer situated here does actually measure and displays the current temperature. It's one of the few Big Things that's actually practical.

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You've probably never heard of ant tourism, and quite frankly, neither had we until we found this Big Ant in Poochera, South Australia. The town is, in fact, an ant tourism hub, having gained fame when a rare species of ant was found in its soil in 1977. The dinosaur ant, or nothomyrmecia macrops if you want to get all scientific, is thought to closely resemble what the first ants would have looked like on Earth. This huge sculpture is a testament to them. Thankfully, they're not this big and mostly live underground in tiny holes.

In a country where wine is one of the key exports, it's unsurprising to see some Big Things dedicated to the stuff. This 32-feet (10m) high wine bottle outside a winery in McLaren Vale is actually made of recycled corks. Nowhere, though, is it documented who exactly drank all that wine...

Located along the Barrier Highway between Yunta and Mannahill, these Big Dice are a hit with passersby. Made of concrete blocks piled into a pyramid, it's sadly impossible to roll them. But people usually love taking a photo with them.

A giant cockroach isn't exactly a great mascot for any town, but the people of Lower Light in South Australia seem to have a fondness for this one. Originally built in the 1990s as a protest against a waste dump being built in the area, the cockroach sculpture survived long after the plans were abandoned. It was briefly lost in 2013, but a local TV host tracked it down to a scrapyard and bought it back in exchange for two slabs of beer. It was eventually returned to its original home, alongside a series of other sculptures (dubbed the 'Dublin protest sculptures') including a spaceship and a tin man.

This 26-foot (8m) tall galah sits outside a souvenir shop in Kimba, South Australia. The big bird was built by Roger Venning and his family as a testament to one of the most prolific birds in Australia. It's made from steel, high tension bird wire and fibreglass. The shop sells all manner of souvenirs and food items, including quandong (a brightly coloured fruit) products and locally-made jams, relish and chutney.

You won't miss the turning for this hotel in Medindie: an enormous statue of a Scottish man with kilt, bagpipes and all, signals your arrival at Scotty's Motel. He even wears the traditional sporran, though there's no telling what's inside – the statue is 16-feet (5m) high so it's unlikely we'll ever find out. Thankfully, those bagpipes aren't real either so no need to worry about being woken in the night.

This big, flightless bird was built to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the proclamation of the town of Penguin in Tasmania. Sitting on the town's esplanade, it was built in 1975 and is now one of the region's most-photographed attractions. It's modelled on a fairy penguin, which are still seen today in rookeries along the Australian coastline.

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Not just a notorious cartoon character, Tasmanian devils do really exist and they've been immortalised in Mole Creek with this enormous statue. The real things are nowhere near as big as this guy, who stands at the entrance to Trowunna Wildlife Sanctuary. They tend to be the size of a small dog but have a notoriously powerful bite.

One of Australia's biggest passions is cricket and these Big Wickets are a fitting tribute to the country's favourite sport. Built in honour of 1930s Australian cricket legend Jack Badcock, they stand around 32-feet (10m) high.

This near-20-foot (6m) mullet fish isn't a particularly appetising sight. Unlike the spritely trout in Adaminaby, New South Wales, this Big Fish lies on its side, mouth open, looking very, very dead. Sitting atop the Art-Deco Fish Creek Hotel, it hardly seems a good omen. But when owner Rob Moncur saw the fish sculpture at an exhibition in a quarry in 1990, he saw fit to pay the asking price and have it installed on top of his establishment.

Wine, cricket, beer... We've almost covered all of Australia's biggest passions. But a more recent one is coffee. Australia is dubbed a coffee capital of the world, with cities like Perth and Melbourne home to some of the best baristas in the business. This Big Coffee Maker sits outside George's Gourmet Coffee store which sells everything you need to make the perfect brew.

While many of these Big Things are placed next to souvenir shops or theme parks, this Giant Koala takes it one step further: the gift shop is inside it. Built in 1989 and weighing 12 tonnes, the landmark was renamed in 2009 in honour of Sam the Koala, who became known around the world after an adorable video of her drinking from a firefighter's bottle went viral. The firefighter had just rescued Sam from a bushfire that devastated thousands of homes and killed hundreds. She sadly died around six months later.

Built in 1977, this enormous bird stands on the shores of the Noosa River. Usually a popular place for families to stop and take a photo or have a picnic, it's also a favoured spot for real-life pelicans. They tend to land in its shadow during the hot afternoon sun to get away from the heat.

This enormous pocket watch was gifted to the city when the huge Melbourne Central shopping mall opened in 1991 and it was hung 40 feet (12m) high. On the hour, every hour, a secret compartment descends from inside the watch to reveal a delightful display of Australian birds. On the back, two koalas swing side to side like a pendulum.

Celebrating its 35th birthday in 2024, Ballina's Big Prawn is one of the most popular Big Things in Australia. It stands at almost 30-feet (9m) high and weighs 35 tonnes. The 2013 restoration, which saw the addition of a tail, cost AU$400,000 (£208k/$269k). Visitors come from all over to have their photograph taken beneath the giant crustacean, then feast on seafood from the stalls nearby. 

Arguably the most underwhelming of Australia’s Big Things, the Big Potato in the pretty southern highlands town of Robertson remains a favourite with aficionados for that very reason. The 32.8 foot (10m) by 13.1 foot (4m) lump of brown concrete was built by local farmer Jim Mauger in 1977 as a homage to the humble spud. Wags have compared it to less savoury things, but that hasn’t stopped visitors posing for photos beside it. Or grabbing a potato pie at the Robertson Pie Shop, just up the road.

Yanni Pounartzis’ huge sculpture of an Australian magpie pecking at a chip was only installed in Garema Place in the Canberra suburb of Civic in March 2022 but it immediately divided opinion. Within a month of its unveiling it was vandalised, necessitating a trip to Sydney to be repaired. Less than a year later it was selected for the Royal Australian Mint's and Australia Post's 2023 coin and stamp set commemorating Australia’s Big Things.

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