A lot has been made lately of Australia’s ex Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s vision of a ‘big Australia’, but whilst everyone assumed he was talking about population and immigration – perhaps not? After all Australia is famous for other ‘big’ things that are popular on the tourist trail. They range from the bizarre to the downright silly and we’ve compiled a list of what we think are the best ‘big’ things in Australia!
New South Wales
Nestled in the valley beside the tranquil Peel River with the Great Dividing Range in the background is the town of Tamworth, famed for its annual country music festivals that are the second largest in the world. It is in celebration of these country music festivals that the good people of Tamworth decided to build what is now the World’s Biggest Guitar, called the big Golden Guitar. It was built just outside the famous Longyard Hotel in 1988 and stands as a symbol of Australia’s celebration and dedication to country music.

Every year country musicians are honoured in front of the big guitar in a recognition ceremony of their achievements. Each musician is awarded a smaller replica of the Golden Guitar.
The great guitar itself stands some 12 metres high. But unfortunately you cannot play this guitar as it has never had any strings, which is a shame as I’d love to have a go at playing it! So next time you are in NSW, make sure you catch the Tamworth Country Music Festival and join the 3.6 million tourists that have taken snapshots of themselves stood alongside the Golden Guitar.
From big guitars we make a seamless leap to big sheep and to the Big Merino in Goulburn, New South Wales. This giant 15 metre tall sheep contains a wool display (what else?) and a gift shop located on its two floors inside the sheep itself.
The Merino sheep is highly favoured by Australian farmers for its resistance to drought and its fine wool coat. In fact almost all sheep reared in Australia now are 100% merino. Examples of the high quality of the wool can be seen in the wool display where visitors are given a brief tour of the history of the wool trade in Australia and are shown the various implement and methods adopted to sheer sheep. Merino wool products can then be purchased in the gift shop as a lasting souvenir of the great Merino Sheep!
Northern Territory
Well what do you think the biggest thing in the Northern Territory is? Surely one of the most famous and iconic of all landmarks – Uluru.
Uluru, formerly Ayres Rock, is a huge sandstone rock formation that is all the more impressive because it looms out of the surrounding flatlands like a giant blister. It stands at 348 metres tall and measures 9.4km in circumference. Because it is made of sandstone it also catches the light in a truly magnificent and breathtaking way, turning a deep, vibrant red during sunset.

Uluru is of special significance to the local Aboriginal people who view it as a sacred place containing the souls of their ancestors. It features highly in the Dreamtime stories. Visitors to Uluru can still climb the great rock, although the Aboriginal people do frown upon it. There have been calls to ban the climbing of the rock after some tourists have been leaving litter there and generally treating Uluru with disrespect, but so far no ban has been put in place. Tourism Australia recently commissioned a huge walkway to encircle part of the rock, giving visitors fantastic vantage points at varying parts along the walkway. Uluru is now a World Heritage Site and attracts over 4000,000 visitors each year.
Queensland
The sunshine state of Australia and here amid the tropics and dazzling sunshine grows a very special crop – pineapple. So what better way to celebrate the growing of pineapples than to build a giant one that stands 16 metres high?
It all started in 1971 when Mr and Mrs Bill Taylor bought a small pineapple farm at Woombye in Queensland. For reasons known only to themselves, the couple started to erect a huge pineapple that would become the World’s Biggest Pineapple. It took them just six months and the Big Pineapple was officially opened by the then Minister for Labour and Tourism in August 1971.

It’s now a major tourist attraction and features rides, tours of the plantation, a small zoo, a restaurant and a souvenir shop where you can buy everything pineapple related!
South Australia
Larry the Lobster has to be up there as one of the most impressive ‘big things’ in Australia. Every detail is perfect and as you stand there you almost expect Larry to suddenly wave his claws around and make a bid for freedom – which would be quite something as he stands at 17 metres tall – the biggest man made structure we’ve featured on our ‘big things’ so far.
It was built to attract visitors to the lobster visitor centre in Kingston, South Australia and it has certainly helped to do that! The story goes that the original lobster was meant to be much smaller, but that the measurements, which were written in feet, were misread as being in metres. It is modelled on a real lobster that the designer caught and had stuffed especially for the purpose.
The complex now boasts a large restaurant and wine tasting area, a visitors centre and will soon be adding accommodation, so you can boast that not only have you seen the world’s biggest lobster, but you stayed there and possibly even ate a bit too!
Now if you like children’s toys, or you are holidaying in Australia with children you’ll want to go and see the Big Rocking Horse in Gumeracha, South Australia. It stands on the site of a wooden toy factory, wildlife park and cafe and beats the pineapple by 1.3 metres, standing tall at 18.3 metres high, although admittedly some of that is the wooden structure at the base of the horse – so does that count?

Although it is painted to look like it is made out of wood, it is actually made from steel and no, unfortunately it doesn’t rock, more’s the pity. However it does incorporate three viewing platforms at the head, saddle and the rockers, for those who are scared of heights. The views over the town are spectacular and the authentic attention to detail on the horse really is quite something to behold.
Victoria
Now we all know that Winston Churchill was famous for his penchant for good cigars, but I doubt any of them were as big as the Big Cigar in Churchill, Australia. The town of Churchill is in a wonderful location surrounded by the awesome Jeeralangs mountain region south-east of Melbourne. It was originally called Hazelwood but was renamed Churchill after the death of the famous wartime Prime Minister.
The giant cigar was erected as one of five planned to be built around the town, but perhaps they wisely decided to stop at one. It is a replica of the kind that Churchill used to favour and just by the base is a wall plaque that commemorates the names of the first settlers to the town.
So there you go. There are many many more big attractions in Australia, we simply couldn’t list them all! I doubt if Kevin Rudd’s ‘big Australia’ can ever compare to these wacky attractions, but perhaps he thought that since the Aussies were so keen on big things, he might persuade them to the idea of a big Australia. Nice try Rudd. For more holiday ideas in Australia look at our travel section and if you have been to any big attractions in Australia then let us know – send in a picture!
Book a big holiday to Australia this year, home of the ‘big things’!