Small things made large. Regular things turned gigantic. Australia’s love affair with the hugely absurd is a bit of an inside joke, but Big Things are far more than a simple place for a toilet break on a long drive.

This clip from Seven Network’s Weird and Wonderful television special from 1980 captures the essence of the joke while subtly investigating the Big Things’ mysterious pull. A synth-heavy remix of the 2001: A Space Odyssey theme plays over footage of these monumental landmarks, blending tongue-in-cheek humour with a sense of awe. It’s an acknowledgement of strangeness: the Big Things of Australia may be kitsch, but they are also monstrous and otherworldly.

The Big Lobster becomes alien, the Big Cow eerie, the Big Banana triumphant. A journey through a park of oversized dinosaur statues takes us back in time, to when Big Things roamed free. Unique in both form and function, they carry the weight of eons on their rust and fibreglass shoulders.