Goin’ down to Goomeri? Then you’ve gotta see The Giant Greenstone Pumpkin! The 550kg vegetable dominates the town’s main street and, as you can see, is drop dead gourd-geous!
The Goomeri Goliath sits atop a vibrant mosaic plinth in Market Square, and makes for a fantastic photo op. Look how happy the Bardot Bunch are in these photos, we’re grinning like a bunch of jack-o’-lanterns!
Whilst The Big Pumpkin has become a Queensland icon, its story starts in Indonesia of all places. An adventurous trader – his name long since lost to the sands of time – was travelling through the jungles of Sumatra when he came across the intricately-carved stone pumpkin in a dusty corner of a timeworn bazaar.
With dollar signs dancing in his eyes, the trader purchased the pumpkin and shipped it off to Brisbane, but was unable to find a buyer.
Come on, Queenslanders, who wouldn’t want an enormous south-east Asian pumpkin sitting in their backyard?
The trader then offered it to the Goomeri Pumpkin Festival committee – for a price that made their eyes water. The stone pumpkin was destined, it seemed, to remain in storage forever.
And then Phyllis Hopf stepped in. She paid for the pumpkin, then donated it to the town. She then put her hand back in her pocket to pay for its installation.
Volunteers built the concrete plinth, which was lovingly decorated by Heather May from Amayz Mosaics over a period of 10 weeks.
Gympie Mayor Mick Curran unveiled the statue in March, 2020, and it quickly became one of the Sunshine State’s top tourist destinations. Move over, Big Pineapple, there’s a new pump-king in town!
And then I go and spoil it all by saying pumpkin’ stupid like, “I love you”
Yoohoo, only me! The one and only Gordon Shumway! Yes, I know you were expecting the honeysuckle words of Bigs Bardot, but you’ll just have to settle for the ramblings of his tiny alien sidekick. And there’s a very good reason for that.
This, my friends, is the story of how I asked the love of my life – the divine Miss Gordina – to be my wife.
The Bardot Bunch, consisting of Bigs, Bigella, Little Peter Poppins, Gordina and myself, were enjoying a road trip through the rolling hills of rural Queensland during the dying days of summer. As we admired Seagulls, Bunyips, Gingerbread Men and Oranges, I felt something gnawing away at me. Initially assuming it was botulism from a dodgy servo pie, I soon realised it was something more profound.
The haunting cries of conjugal life had become a cacophony.
Racking my brain to think of the perfect place to ask for Gordina’s hairy hand in holy matrimony, I settled on the most romantic place on earth – the car park out the front of Matilda the Kangaroo.
“You can’t ask her there,” sighed Bigs when I told him my plan.
“Oh right,” I whimpered, “because it’s right next to a public toilet.”
“No, silly,” Bigs grinned, “because that’s where I asked Bigella to marry me! You need to make this experience your own.”
Bigs is a wise (and handsome!) man, so I heeded his advice. Then I thought of a location – The Giant Greenstone Pumpkin in Goomeri, Gordina’s home town. It was there that, by the silvery light of a crescent moon, we’d shared our first kiss in 2023. Since then we’d supported each other through the highest of highs, the lowest of lows, and my out-of-control Metamucil addiction.
And so, after taking our photos with The Pumpkin, the rest of the gang melted into the background, leaving my love and I alone atop the Giant Pumpkin. I took Gordina’s hand, looked into her eyes, and said the words I’d dreamed of saying for so long.
“Gordina,” I uttered as tears cascaded down my cheeks. “Will you Goo-marry me?”
Everytime I visit Big Vegetables it makes me think of you
The Giant Greenstone Pumpkin may be the #1 tourist attraction in Queensland, but it’s not the state’s only cultivated winter squash – there’s another pretty big one up in Gumlu. And that one’s sitting right next to a Big Watermelon – wowzers!
Queensland is also home to the world-famous Big Strawberry in Elimbah, Big Mandarin in Mundubbera, and a super-sized slice of Melon in Chinchilla – what a slice thing to visit! Then there’s The Big Apple in Thulimbah and another Big Apple in Brissie but, ah, you might want to watch out for the locals.
Head further north and you’ll find Bowen’s Big Mango, along with a slightly smaller replica just down the road. There’s also a Big Banana in Mackay, Big Orange in the Lockyer Valley, and yet another Big Pumpkin in Kooralbyn. But they don’t appear on Land of the Bigs (yet!) so you’ll just have to look them up on our world-famous Ultimate Aussie Big Things Map.
Queensland, hey? Fruit-iful one day, perfect the next!
