The cozy coastal town of Coffs Harbor located in the north coast of New South Wales, with its lush nature reserves, sunny beaches, and of course scrumptious fresh seafood, is the perfect holiday getaway for the whole family or for the solo holiday goers. Apart from these attractions, Coffs Harbor is also renowned for one of the most iconic monuments and theme parks in the country, the Big Banana, where you can have a “Whole Bunch of Fun!”
The Big Banana, located along the Pacific Highway, is one of Coffs Harbour’s main tourist attractions. Also an amusement park, the grounds of the park are set amongst a banana plantation, featuring a large walk-through banana. The Country Comfort Coffs Harbour, a popular Coffs Harbour hotel, is one you should consider staying at while you’re in the city, as it is conveniently situated just 2 minutes away from the Big Banana.
It all started in 1964 with the dream of one man, John Landi, who wanted something to make passing traffic stop at his road side banana stall. Thus, with the help of 1200 pounds and a local engineer who set about designing the giant banana by cutting the best looking banana he could find into 40 pieces and developing plans from which builders could work from, the world’s biggest banana was born.
Years later from the Big Banana’s little humble beginnings, it has developed into a major theme park boasting The Banana Slip Water Park (Australia’s first 3 story high inflatable waterslide – the biggest in the world), the Wild Toboggan Ride, Area 351 Laser Tag Arena, an Ice Skating Rink “The World of Bananas” multimedia theatre experience, theme café’s and many more!
After an exciting time at the rides you can pay a visit to the park’s banana-themed eateries, like the ‘Candy Kitchen’ where over 90 kilos of sweets are made each day!- or the Café where you can taste delicious banana smoothies, banana splits, and over 15 different flavors of ice cream. If you want to take home a souvenir of your wonderful day out at the Big Banana, head over to the Gift Shop where you can buy a wide array banana-themed souvenir items that range from banana water pistols, jewelry to even lip balms and moisturizers. With all these rides and attractions, a day at the iconic Big Banana is sure to make you go Bananas!
Uditha Dharmawardhane is a travel writer who writes under the pen name Roland Lefevre. He specializes in creating features on leisure as well as business travel destinations across the globe.
