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Gympie’s Big Pineapple 

Many towns in Australia have big landmarks- take for instance the Big Banana in Coffs Harbour, the Big Golden Guitar in Tamworth, the Big Prawn in Ballina, the Big Mango in Bowen…but did you know that Gympie used to be home to its very own Big Pineapple? 

Gympie’s Big Pineapple at the Caltex service station. Photo source: Gympie- The Real Treasure is the town Facebook page

Gympie’s Big Pineapple at the Caltex service station around 1976. Photo source: Gympie- The Real Treasure is the town Facebook page

The sixteen metre tall fibre-glass pineapple was located at the Caltex service station on the corner of Monkland Street and the Bruce Highway (Kovacevic, 2023).  Visitors could walk up the stairs inside the pineapple to see views of Albert Park and the highway, which could be seen through the slots in the pineapple.

Gympie’s pineapple was first opened for business in October 1971 and quickly became a popular tourist attraction in the area (Remeikis, 2008).

It also caused some confusion for travellers due to the similarity between the Gympie Pineapple and its Sunshine Coast counterpart. It was later revealed that both pineapples were made by the same Gympie-based company – WC Prongers (Kovacevic, 2023).

The lifetime of the pineapple, however, was not without its hardships. It endured many floods over the years, including an 18.39m flood in February 1972 and a 15.85m flood in April of 1972. Between 1973 and 1974, it survived another three floods, with the largest flood reaching a height of 20.73m in January of 1974(Kovacevic, 2023).

Despite these incursions, the pineapple’s resilience stood the test of time, remaining open to the public for a total of thirty-seven years (Remeikis, 2008). Many locals used the spot as a meeting place and tourists delighted in getting a photo in-front of “Gympie’s Big Pineapple”.

The Big Pineapple endured five floods in the first three years following its construction.  Photo source: The Gympie Times newspaper article (2023).

In 2008 however, Gympie’s Big Pineapple shut its doors to visitors when the service station was redeveloped to make way for a new business complex (Remeikis, 2008). The Caltex service station was then moved fifty metres further north up the Bruce Highway. By this time, the pineapple was in poor structural condition, as the fibreglass had started to deteriorate due to many years of weathering and floods (Kovacevic, 2023). The decision was then made to disassemble the icon as it would have been too costly to remove and repair. Many locals were upset with this decision, even writing in to the local newspaper, The Gympie Times,  in a plea to save the pineapple (Gympie Times, 2008).

Despite the public disappointment, Gympie’s Big Pineapple was removed piece by piece and the parts were dispersed between many Gympie Region residents, with the crown remaining at a private property at Imbil (Kovacevic, 2023).

Although Gympie is no longer home to any big landmarks, it’s safe to say the pineapple has left many BIG memories in the hearts and minds of the local community.

The Big Pineapple, partly submerged during a Gympie flood.  Photo courtesy of David English, which was published in the Gympie Times article (2023).

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