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Australia Has A Rival For Novelty Oversized Landmarks

Australia Has A Rival For Novelty Oversized Landmarks

We’re a simple country, Australia. We don’t need flashy Eiffel Towers or psychedelic underground train rides – we’re just happy to bank on our natural beauty and friendly people to keep tourism strong. I mean, when it comes to tourist destinations – aside from the classics like Sydney Harbour and Uluru – we’ve pretty much just planted a bunch of weirdly oversized things everywhere and called it a day.

The Big Banana in Coffs Harbour, the Big Lobster in Kingston, the Big Guitar in Tamworth, the Big Tennis Racquet in Barellan – I could go on… no seriously, there’s so many. But lo and behold, we may not be the only country in the world with a fascination for “big things” – South Africa also has an impressive host of oversized roadside objects that have people being like  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

A photo posted by Michele Nel (@michele_nel) on

First up they’ve got a giant post box in the small town of Calvinia, found on the Northern Cape of South Africa. The post box, which is in fact a disused water tank, stands at around six metres tall. The letters posted at this postbox actually receive a commemorative stamp of a flower. Cute!

RELATED: THE BIG POTATO, THE BIG BIN AND 6 OTHER OVERSIZED AUSTRALIAN THINGS

A photo posted by Liesel van Heerden (@lieselvh1) on

There’s also a giant shoe house, which – like that giant boot in New Zealand – can actually be rented out to guests. There’s a miniature museum, a gallery, a shop, a cave and tea garden tucked away in there too.

A photo posted by Corlia Van Den Worm (@corravdw) on

Then there’s the Rooiberg Winery. Not only will you be able to sample some of the most delicious wines in Africa (if not the world), there’s also a nine-metre tall red chair that sits out the back of the winery, complete with it’s own regular-sized table and chairs on top of the steel structure. It’s actually the largest chair on the continent – the more you know.

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Now the last “big thing” here actually rivals something we hold very dear to us in Australia – our own Big Pineapple in Nambour. South Africa has their own Big Pineapple in the very Australian-sounding town of Bathurst. Their gigantic tropical fruit sits at an impressive 16.7 metres tall – a whole 70 CENTIMETRES TALLER THAN OURS. We were so close to being the victors.

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Who wore it best? Australia to the left or South Africa to the right?

Inside the Big Pineapple in South Africa you’ll find an auditorium that shows a 12 minute film on pineapple production, as well as an exhibition on local agriculture and an observation deck.

(Lead image: left; annabellerina/Instagram, right; laurenmcglen/Instagram)

Fly to South Africa with Qantas or check out flights on our fare finder below.

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