The Big Pineapple
Encyclopedia
Farm
A farm is an area of land, or, for aquaculture, lake, river or sea, including various structures, devoted primarily to the practice of producing and managing food , fibres and, increasingly, fuel. It is the basic production facility in food production. Farms may be owned and operated by a single...
situated at Woombye
Woombye, Queensland
Woombye is a town located on the Sunshine Coast hinterland in Queensland, Australia, approximately 100 km north of the Brisbane CBD. The name is derived from words from the local Aboriginal language - a place of black snake or black myrtle or axe handle made from black myrtle...
near Nambour, Queensland
Nambour, Queensland
The area now known as Nambour, was first settled in 1870. The town was then called Petrie's Creek. In 1890 the Maroochy Divisional Board was established...
. The Big Pineapple is 16 metre high and was originally opened on the 15 of August 1971. It is situated on a 165 hectare site.
The Big Pineapple features two rides: One on a Nut Mobile, the other on a small train that takes passengers on a tour of the plantation and lets them optionally disembark at a small zoo situated on the property. The rides take visitors around the plantation while the driver broadcasts information about the plants at the plantation, along with a history.
The plantation also features a small animal farm where visitors may feed the animals. Such animals include: dingo
Dingo
The Australian Dingo or Warrigal is a free-roaming wild dog unique to the continent of Australia, mainly found in the outback. Its original ancestors are thought to have arrived with humans from southeast Asia thousands of years ago, when dogs were still relatively undomesticated and closer to...
es, a deer
Deer
Deer are the ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. Species in the Cervidae family include white-tailed deer, elk, moose, red deer, reindeer, fallow deer, roe deer and chital. Male deer of all species and female reindeer grow and shed new antlers each year...
, a donkey
Donkey
The donkey or ass, Equus africanus asinus, is a domesticated member of the Equidae or horse family. The wild ancestor of the donkey is the African Wild Ass, E...
, alpaca
Alpaca
An alpaca is a domesticated species of South American camelid. It resembles a small llama in appearance.Alpacas are kept in herds that graze on the level heights of the Andes of southern Peru, northern Bolivia, Ecuador, and northern Chile at an altitude of to above sea level, throughout the year...
s, pigs, chickens, ducks and various birds. The plantation once housed a Macadamia Nut factory. They still grow macadamia
Macadamia
Macadamia is a genus of nine species of flowering plants in the family Proteaceae, with a disjunct distribution native to eastern Australia , New Caledonia and Sulawesi in Indonesia ....
nut.
History
In 1971, Mr & Mrs Bill Taylor purchased a modest pineapple farm of 23 hectares on the coast side of the Bruce HighwayBruce Highway
The Bruce Highway is a major highway in Queensland, Australia. Commencing in the state capital, Brisbane, it passes through areas close to the eastern coast to Cairns in Far North Queensland. The route is a part of the Australian National Highway and also part of Highway 1...
. The Big Pineapple was opened by the Minister for Labour and Tourism, the late John Herbert on 15 August 1971. In 1972, the attraction was the recipient of the first award presented by the Australian National Travel Association for a tourist development in Queensland
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
.
At 3:00 am on 11 September 1978, the building housing the tropical market and restaurant was completely destroyed by fire following an attempted burglary. The then Governor-General, Sir Zelman Cowan, opened the new complex on 19 December, just three months later. The purchase by Lanray Industries occurred in 1981.
In 1984, the Nutcountry Tour was extended to take in a section of rainforest in the redesigned Nutmobile, verandahs were added to the main upstairs restaurant, the Queensland's Hidden Treasures exhibit was opened presenting an array of Queensland's gems and minerals, in natural form (in the rough) and as finished jewellery and Troppo's Restaurant was opened. Troppo's subsequently changed its name to Plantations Restaurant. Queensland Press Limited became the new owner of the Big Pineapple in 1985. In 1986, eight more properties were acquired bringing the total land holdings to 113 hectares.
1987 saw land purchased on the southern side of the highway, which allowed the construction of new car parking facilities, accommodating a further 20 coaches and 420 cars. A pedestrian bridge was constructed to span the highway. The Big Pineapple underwent a major redevelopment. The main upstairs restaurant was doubled in size. A new reception area and tourist information centre
Visitor center
A visitor center or centre , visitor information center, tourist information center, is a physical location that provides tourist information to the visitors who tour the place or area locally...
was added. The Big Pineapple was refurbished and relocated.
In 1988, the Big Pineapple held the opening of 'Tomorrow's Harvest', a greenhouse displaying horticultural technology. RAPS night-time family restaurant opened in June of that year. The following year, the 'Magic Macadamia' was opened to promote the macadamia
Macadamia
Macadamia is a genus of nine species of flowering plants in the family Proteaceae, with a disjunct distribution native to eastern Australia , New Caledonia and Sulawesi in Indonesia ....
industry and the qualities of the macadamia. The Sunshine Coast's road system was augmented by two major additions: the Sunshine Motorway
Sunshine Motorway
The Sunshine Motorway is a thirty-three kilometre Australian motorway on the Sunshine Coast region of Queensland, just north of Brisbane. It was initially a tolled motorway before these were removed in 1993 after excessive complaint regarding any such need of a toll.-Overview:The Sunshine Motorway...
in January 1990 and the Bruce Highway - Nambour bypass in November. This meant the site was no longer adjacent to the Bruce Highway.
In December 1991, a mini-tornado caused substantial damage to Tomorrow's Harvest attraction, closing it for seven weeks while temporary repairs were affected. The 'Rainforest Stop' opened in December, adding rainforest walks and the animal nursery to the Train tour. In 1992, the Big Pineapple held the opening of the 'Arts and Crafts Gallery' in the retail area beside the train station and the expansion of the leisurewear department. During a seven week closure in May/June 1993, the Tomorrow's Harvest attraction was refurbished: the tornado-damaged roof was replaced, the displays upgraded and 'Robbie the Robot' was added. Plantations Restaurant received a colonially-themed makeover during a major refit in September.
Punkahs, evaporative cooling, new decorative facades and upgraded lighting and signage were added to the upstairs retail area during the refurbishment project completed in December.
A major refurbishment of Sunshines Restaurant was completed in June in 1994. The Endeavour Foundation's bingo game closed in August and RAPS Restaurant in September. The 'Farm Show' was added to the Train tour in September 1995. Guided tours of the Macadamia Factory for Nutcountry passengers commenced in December to enhance the experience when the factory was not processing.
The 'Bromeliad Feature' was added to the Tomorrow's Harvest attraction in February 1996. The 'Wildlife Garden' featuring koalas and other native animals was opened in April. Roughend Pineapple became the new owner of Sunshine Plantation in July. In 2003, the Big Pineapple was threatened to be sold to liquidators after refusal to pay creditors by company director Mr. Graham Hayes. The Big Pineapple was put into receivership in 2009. The Australian Taxation Office had been pushing for the property to be wound up since 2003, when it was revealed it owed the ATO $533,700.
In 2010, the Big Pineapple was sold to a prominent local family, the Bowden family of Buderim, for an undisclosed amount by PPB (receivers and managers). The Bowdens plan to completely renovate the historic tourist attraction, but several of the traditional drawcards of the Woombye landmark will remain, including the heritage-listed 15-metre fibreglass Big Pineapple and its famed sundaes. New to the attraction will be the housing on the site of a number of classic racing cars within the buildings. In 2011, renovation and reconstruction continued in an effort to return to business as a agritourism
Agritourism
Agritourism, as it is defined most broadly, involves any agriculturally-based operation or activity that brings visitors to a farm or ranch. Agritourism has different definitions in different parts of the world, and sometimes refers specifically to farm stays, as in Italy...
operation.
Other Big Pineapples
Gympie, Queensland
Gympie is a regional town in south eastern Queensland, Australia, about north of the state capital, Brisbane. The city lies on the Mary River. Gympie is the administrative centre for the Gympie Region area...
some 100 km to the north, but was demolished in 2008. Another 'small Big Pineapple' is located at the front of a petrol station in Ballina
Ballina, New South Wales
Ballina is a town on the Northern Rivers of New South Wales, Australia, and the seat of the Ballina Shire Local Government Area. It had a population of 16,477 in the 2006 Census.-Location:...
, New South Wales.
In the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, an airline called The Hawaii Express
The Hawaii Express
The Hawaii Express was a scheduled passenger airline that operated flights between Los Angeles, California and Honolulu, Hawaii...
, which operated service between Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, and Honolulu, Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
, in 1982 and 1983, was nicknamed "The Big Pineapple" because of that design which was painted on the mango-colored tail of the aircraft.
The Hawaiian Pineapple Co. (later, Dole Food Co.) erected a pineapple-shaped water tower over their cannery building in Honolulu, HI, on 233 February 1928. The pineapple was 40' tall, with a 24' circumference, capable of holding 100,000 gallons. Resting atop 100' steel legs above the cannery, it served as a local landmark for many years. "The Big Pineapple," as it was called, was dismantled in 1993, after the cannery was closed down.
Another Big Pineapple is in Bathurst, South Africa. It is actually bigger at 16.7 m high. Inside is a curio shop and informative static and visual displays of the pineapple industry in the area with an observation deck on top looking out over farm lands and the Indian Ocean in the distance. There is also a big pineapple located in Singleton.