List of New Zealand's big things
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The big things of New Zealand are large novelty statues located in many small towns across the country which typically relate to the town and its identity.[1] Examples include the Taihape gumboot, in a town which has an annual gumboot-throwing contest; the large L&P bottle in Paeroa, the town where the drink originated, and the Big Sheep Shearer in Te Kūiti, where the national sheep-shearing competitions are held. A similar tradition is found in Australia.[2]
North Island
| Name | Location | Built | Size | Notes | Image |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Big Apple | Waitomo Caves | 7.5 m (25 ft) | The logo of the Big Apple Cafe. |  | |
| Big Bicycle | Taupō | 2012 | 3 m (9.8 ft) | A 3m high bicycle erected in September 2012 to encourage road safety to cyclists | |
| Big Bull | Bulls | 4 m (13 ft) | A large Bull, signifying the importance of bulls to Bulls.[3] |  | |
| Big Carrot | Ohakune | 1984 | 7.5 m (25 ft) | This big carrot is at the entrance to the town Ohakune, recognising the importance of market gardening to the local economy.[4] The carrot was originally a fibreglass prop used in an ANZ Bank commercial that was acquired by the town and officially unveiled by the Prime Minister in 1984. |  |
| Big Dairy Whip | Tatuanui | A giant can of Tatua Dairy Whip at the site of the Tatua Dairy Company factory. | |||
| Big Gumboot | Taihape | 2000 | A giant metal gumboot made from corrugated iron. Represents Taihape as the "Gumboot Capital of the World".[5] |  | |
| Big Kiwifruit | Te Puke, Bay of Plenty | Part of the Kiwi360 complex.[6] |  | ||
| Big Kiwi | Eketāhuna | Big Kiwi; relocated in 2016. |  | ||
| Big Kiwis | Ōtorohanga | Several corrugated-iron kiwis are located around the town, the self-proclaimed capital of Kiwiana. |  | ||
| Big Kowhai | Napier | 2014 | 4 m (13 ft) | "The Gold of the Kowhai" is a bronze gilded sculpture by artist Paul Dibble[7] |  |
| Big Lemon & Paeroa bottle | Paeroa, Thames Valley | 1967 | 7 m (23 ft) | A large soft drink bottle; L&P or Lemon & Paeroa.[8] |  |
| Big Loaf | Manaia | The town is 'New Zealand's Bread Capital' - Yarrows Family Bakers, one of the last and largest remaining independently owned bakeries, is in Manaia. | |||
| Big Parsnip, also known as Panorama Parsnip | Ohakune | 2017[9] | The sixth vegetable added to the Ohakune Carrot Adventure Park.[9] | ||
| Big Sheep and Sheepdog | Tīrau | 1994 | Made from corrugated iron, the town's information centre is shaped like a giant dog, with 'the big sheep' housing a large wool outlet.[10] |  | |
| Big Sheep Shearer | Te Kūiti | The town promotes itself as the sheep shearing capital of the world and is host to the annual New Zealand National Shearing Championships. |  | ||
| Big Trout | Taupō | A giant metal trout |  | ||
| Big Prawn | Taupō | A giant prawn, part of Huka Prawn Park |  | ||
| Jandal On The Mandel [11] | Between Kopu and Thames. | A giant jandal, alongside the Hauraki Rail Trail, on the Coromandel Peninsula. By artist Ricks Terstappen. | |||
| Giant Oystercatcher | Kaiaua | 23 January 2005[12] | 3.5 m | A large oystercatcher, to represent the shorebirds of the Seabird Coast. |  |
| Mega Cow | Morrinsville | 2017 | 6.5 m | A large cow, to acknowledge the area's thriving dairy farming industry. |  |
South Island
| Name | Location | Built | Size | Notes | Image |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Big Crayfish | Kaikōura | The logo of the Lobster Inn Motel. | |||
| Big Doughnut | Springfield | 2007 | 3.5 m (11 ft) | A doughnut set up to promote The Simpsons Movie.[13] | .jpg) |
| The Five Clydesdales | Clinton[14] | A group of (slightly) larger-than-life-sized Clydesdale horses. |  | ||
| Big Fruit[15] | Cromwell | 1989 | 13 m (43 ft) | An apricot, apple, pear and nectarine. |  |
| Big Mosgiel | Mosgiel | Big letters spelling the name of the town. |  | ||
| Big Pāua [16] | Riverton | early 1990s | Giant pāua (abalone) shell just past eastern bridge into the town on State Highway 99. Featured in 1998 in a series of postage stamps celebrating New Zealand town icons.[17] | ||
| Big Salmon[18] | Rakaia | 1991 | 12 m (39 ft) | A larger than usual salmon, commonly found in the Rakaia River. |  |
| Big Sandfly | Pukekura[19] | A sandfly mounted outside The Bushmans Centre. |  | ||
| Big Sausage | Tuatapere | 3 m (10 ft) | A big sausage atop a fork, awarded to the town in September 2015 by the ZM radio show Fletch, Vaughan and Megan.[20] | ||
| Surfer Riding a Wave | Colac Bay | Big statue of surfer riding a wave |  | ||
| Big Takahe | Te Anau | ~ 2.2 m (7.2 ft) | Big statue of the takahē, an endangered, flightless bird indigenous to New Zealand's South Island. |  | |
| Harbour Mouth Molars | Dunedin | Sculpture of several molars, sometimes called the Harbour Mouth Molars, in Kitchener Street Reserve. |  | ||
| Big Trout and Big Guitar | Gore | 1998 (Trout) | A brown trout.[21] Central Gore also has a giant guitar, honouring the town's status as the unofficial capital of country and western music in New Zealand. |   | |
| Big Wheelbarrow | Hokitika | Holds a giant inflatable wild pig during Hokitika's annual Wildfoods Festival. |  |
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