Ballina – The Big Prawn

There is a long tradition in Australian rural towns of building oversized replicas of local produce in order to attract tourists. This started in Coffs Harbour with the Big Banana. There are now scores of these throughout the countryside. We have the Big Merino, the Big Pineapple and the Big Lobster. I’m very sad to say, that Ballina is the unfortunate home of the Big Prawn.

This very large crustacean sits on the main road into Ballina. It’s the first thing people see when they come to town. It’s also the only thing a lot of people see. The prawn is the depot where all the long distance buses stop for a toilet break and to refuel. As a result, Ballina is not as well known for it’s beautiful beaches as it is for the giant abomination. Oh dear.

The prawn was bright red when it was first built. It was the colour of a cooked prawn. At the time, this caused a bit of controversy amongst the locals who thought it should be the colour of an uncooked prawn. You can tell not much happens in Ballina! Anyway, the locals have had their revenge, sort of. Over time, the red paint has faded and the prawn is now nearly white, just like some people always wanted!

As with most of these things, the prawn is not just there to take photos of. There’s shops attached! In this case, there’s a lot of arts and crafts shops underneath. They mostly sell overpriced low quality knick knacks for people enticed in by the enormous creature.

If that wasn’t enough, when the prawn first opened, you could walk up inside the prawn’s head and look out it’s plastic eyeballs. Classy, or what. Luckily, someone fell down the stairs and the prawn head has been closed ever since. This makes it a little bit less embarrassing, but not much!

If you’re one of those people who think all there is to Ballina is the giant prawn think again! There’s a McDonalds down the road. I mean, there’s a lot to see in Ballina. Come and have a look!