Latest news with #BigPear
Yahoo
07-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Aussie town plans to build ‘biggest pear on Earth'
Australia is notorious for its oversized landmarks: there's the Big Banana in Coffs Harbour, the Big Prawn in Ballina, the Big Merino in Goulburn, but have you heard about the Big Pear? The Aussie town of Shepparton–in the heart of Victoria's Goulburn Valley–is planning to build the world's largest pear, and the cost of the fibreglass fruit alone is expected to be more than $1.3 million. The Goulburn Valley is renowned for its pears–with 90 per cent of the pears sold across Australia coming from the region. Australia is notorious for its oversized landmarks. There's the big banana in Coffs Harbour, the big prawn in Ballina, the Big Merino in Goulburn, but have you heard about the big pear, the Aussie town of Shepparton in the heart of Victoria's Goulburn Valley, is planning to build the world's largest pear, and the cost of the fibreglass fruit alone is expected to be more than $1.3 million. The Goulburn Valley is renowned for its pears, with 90% of the pears sold across Australia coming from there. A spokesperson for the group behind the landmark's proposal, Rocky Varapodio, told Triple M that the three-story pear would be telling a story about the region. He explained that the fruit industry has talked about having a structure in the region that symbolises and recognises fruit growing in the area. We think it's time to recognise this industry that's given so much to this region. Although Mr. Varapodio said it's hard to tell when the big pear will become a reality, he hopes it will be built in the next few years.
The Guardian
02-07-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
Green zone: Australian city of Shepparton to grow a huge pear
Not content with building the world's largest Murray cod, the city of Shepparton is now planning the construction of the biggest pear on Earth. The proposal for a three-storey fruit in the heart of the Goulburn Valley has generated headlines in recent weeks after the return of a business case that estimated construction of the fibreglass fruit alone at just over $1.3m. But its steering group spokesperson, Rocky Varapodio, said the tale the Big Pear would tell was about more than just fruit. Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email 'What we would really like to achieve out of this is for it to be a structure that is in the shape of the pear, and look[s] like a pear, that will symbolise fruit growing in the region,' Varapodio said. 'But, more importantly, we want it to be a really good experience when you enter into the pear – we want you to have an exceptional, interactive experience.' The grandson of a postwar Italian migrant who came to the Goulburn Valley in search of work in what was the centre of canned fruit production in Australia, Varapodio said the Big Pear would also symbolise and tell the story of the many families like his own who had taken root in the region due to its agriculture and industry. The semi-retired former fruit grower said his biggest agricultural offering would add to a growing list of attractions in the 'sizeable regional city'. 'You wouldn't call [Shepparton] a tourist destination,' he said. 'But what we are doing now is starting to build up some very good attractions and making it a worthwhile destination to visit.' Among the sites Varapodio listed was the new Shepparton Art Museum, which opened in 2021, the Museum of Vehicle Evolution and a 16-metre-long Murray cod, which opened 20 minutes south of the city earlier this year. Should the dream of an oversized pear come to fruition, the central Victorian city could not only lay stake to the claim of big thing capital of Australia – it may help usher in a new golden age of big things. This is the contention of the international authority on big things, the University of the Sunshine Coast's associate dean Dr Amy Clarke. The historian, who has mapped the 'larger than life roadside colossi' of the world, said it was not uncommon for two big things to be in close proximity. Until both were demolished in recent years, Tewantin near Noosa had a big shell and big stubby a street apart from one another. Beerwah, also in the Sunshine Coast region, has both a big mower and chainsaw. But the scale, smoothness and shape of the proposed pear, she said, would be 'difficult to achieve from an engineering and architecture perspective' – but 'pretty spectacular' if pulled off. Sign up to Afternoon Update Our Australian afternoon update breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what's happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion 'There's something to be said for the artistry of a very well-executed, singular big thing that can draw people far more than, say, a handful of subpar big things,' she said. 'I think that – if they go down the road that that artistic impression is suggesting they might – they're in the running to have that title of capital of big things in Australia.' Though, should the regional city claim that crown, it might not rest easy. Clarke said Australia was in the midst of a renaissance of oversized roadside monuments, in part spurred by a rise in domestic travel post-pandemic. As well as the recent restorations of icons such as the Big Pineapple, which hark back to the glory days of the 1970s and 80s, Clarke pointed to new builds such as Big Swoop – a half-tonne magpie pecking a chip in Canberra that opened in 2022 – and an 11.5 metre-high and 16 metre-long Chamberlain 40K tractor built in Carnamah, Western Australia, last year. Clarke said she was also being frequently approached for advice on big thing proposals. 'We're in a bit of a new kind of golden age of big things.'
