Big Banana facts for kids
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| Location | Coffs Harbour, New South Wales, Australia |
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| Coordinates | 30°16′29.15″S 153°08′01.67″E / 30.2747639°S 153.1337972°E |
| Opened | 22 December 1964 |
| Slogan | "It's a whole bunch of fun!" |
| Operating season | Year-round |
| Area | 45 acres (18 ha) |
| Attractions | |
| Total | 12 |
| Water rides | 8 |
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The Big Banana is a super fun tourist spot and amusement park in Coffs Harbour, New South Wales, Australia. It's called 'The Big Banana Fun Park'. This park is built right inside a real banana plantation! Its most famous feature is a huge banana you can walk through.
The Big Banana was built way back in 1964. It was one of Australia's very first "Big Things". These are giant roadside attractions that look like everyday objects. The park has lots of cool activities. You can go on a downhill toboggan ride or try ice skating. There's also an XD Theatre, Mini Golf, a Giant Slide, and Laser Tag. Plus, it has a water park for splashing around!
You can also learn about bananas at the World of Bananas educational experience. If you like puzzles, there are escape rooms too. You can even take tours of the banana plantation. The Big Banana has been a family-owned business since it first opened. It welcomes many visitors, especially during busy holiday times.
Did you know? Other giant bananas have been built in Australia, like the ones in Carnarvon, Western Australia. The Big Banana was even listed by Huffington Post as one of the "Top 10 Pieces of Folly Architecture." This means it's a fun and unique building!
Contents
Fun Things to Do at The Big Banana
Current Attractions
The main attraction is the Big Banana itself, which is 15 meters (about 49 feet) long! It also has an exciting 82-meter (about 269 feet) long Giant Slide. Here are some other cool things you can do there:
- Laser tag
- Mini golf
- An ice skating rink
- A special theatre for learning about bananas
- A thrilling toboggan ride
- A water park with slides and pools
- A reptile zoo where you can see different reptiles
- Challenging escape rooms
Past Attractions
The park used to have three scenic monorail trains. These trains ran on a special track. They linked different buildings and took visitors up the steep hills of the banana plantation.
In 2005, one of the monorail trains broke down. Another train was pushing it for repairs when something went wrong. The broken train ended up falling into a lagoon inside the park.
The monorail track also passed by a lagoon that had an animatronic bunyip. A bunyip is a mythical creature from Aboriginal Australian stories. This bunyip was turned off in 2005. Much of the old track can still be seen around the park and plantations today.
The Big Banana on Stamps
In 2007, Australia Post released a special set of postage stamps. These stamps celebrated Australia's "Big Things." The Big Banana was one of the famous landmarks featured on a 50-cent stamp!
Other "Big Things" that appeared on these stamps included:
- The (Big) Golden Guitar in Tamworth, New South Wales
- The Big Lobster in Kingston SE, South Australia
- The Big Merino (a giant sheep) in Goulburn, New South Wales
- The Big Pineapple in Nambour, Queensland
Images for kids
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Carriages from one of the old monorail trains, now out of service.
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Another old monorail train, no longer in use.
See also
