Built by Bill and Lyn Taylor on a Woombye pineapple farm in 1971, the Big Pineapple has grown into a heritage-listed landmark offering a zoo, zipline, train rides and panoramic views across the Sunshine Coast.
Australia: Queensland – Matilda the kangaroo statue
The big grey roo who refused to die quietly: Matilda, Gympie
We pulled off the Bruce Highway south of Gympie expecting nothing more than a wee and a pie, and instead found ourselves staring up at a thirteen-metre fibreglass kangaroo with the slightly unsettling ability to wink. This was Matilda, and she has had, by any standard, a far more eventful life than most of the lorry drivers refuelling beneath her.
Matilda was built for the 1982 Commonwealth Games in Brisbane, where she stood six tonnes of fibreglass and steel atop a forklift, her head turning, her ears wiggling, and her eyes blinking at the crowd like she’d had one too many at the bar. The Games involved forty six nations and over fifteen hundred athletes across twelve sports, and were opened by the Duke of Edinburgh and closed by the Queen herself, which is a rather grander send-off than anything I’ve ever managed at a works do. Her pouch even doubled as a door, releasing twenty children dressed as joeys for a trampoline display, which strikes me as the most Australian sentence ever written.
After her moment of Olympic-adjacent glory, poor Matilda was rather unceremoniously shoved in a paddock and forgotten about, the way you do with a gazebo after one barbecue too many. In 1984 she resurfaced at Wet ‘n’ Wild on the Gold Coast, where she loitered for over two decades being photographed by people in budgie smugglers, before the site needed redeveloping and she was once again homeless.
The long road north
Around 2007 she was bought up by a fuel station group, who spent well over a hundred thousand dollars getting her roadworthy again, which tells you everything about Australian priorities. She had a brief, ill-fated stop on the Gold Coast Highway, but the local council decided she breached planning regulations, presumably on the grounds that a six tonne kangaroo is, technically, a planning issue. So north she went, eventually settling near Gympie, where she now draws in close to a hundred thousand visitors a year to the fuel stop where she sits.
She isn’t ancient by Pommy standards. No Roman ruins, no Tudor beams. But that, really, is rather the point of Australia: history here moves at the speed of a forklift, and a roadside roo can become a genuine cultural landmark within a single working lifetime. Matilda is daft, slightly mad, and completely sincere, which is as good a description of Queensland’s relationship with its own “big things” as you’ll find. The country is littered with them – big prawns, big bananas, big merinos – and Matilda is their undisputed matriarch.
We had a pie, took the obligatory photo, and got back on the highway, vaguely cheered. There is something properly heartening about a country that builds a giant winking kangaroo, loses her, finds her again, and gives her pride of place by a petrol station rather than quietly demolishing her. We do not build many roadside attractions like that at home. More’s the pity.
Planning Your Visit to the Matilda Statue
| 📍 Location | 76 Nambour Connection Rd, Woombye, Queensland, Australia |
| 🕖 Opening Times / 🌐 Website |
| 📍 Location | 🕖 Opening Times / 🌐 Website | 📞 Phone / 📧 Email | ℹ️ Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Caltex/Beefy’s Traveston Service Centre, Old Bruce Highway, Traveston/Kybong, Gympie Region, Queensland | Daily, 24 hours (service centre) / caltex.com.au | Not publicly listed / Not publicly available | Matilda is a 13-metre-tall kangaroo sculpture originally built for the 1982 Commonwealth Games in Brisbane, later relocated to the Traveston service centre Wikipedia |
🎟️ Visitor Info
| 🎟️ Entry Fees | 📸 Photo Stop | 🛣️ Highway | 🚗 Parking |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free to view | Yes, popular roadside photo attraction | Bruce Highway, approx. 160 km north of Brisbane, just south of Gympie | Ample parking for cars, caravans, and trucks |
Best Time to Queensland
🌸 Spring (September – November)
Spring is one of Queensland’s most rewarding seasons to visit. Temperatures across the state are warm and pleasant, typically ranging from 20°C to 28°C, without the oppressive humidity that peaks in summer. The Whitsundays and the Great Barrier Reef are outstanding at this time, with calm seas, excellent water visibility, and the whale migration season winding down through September and October — giving visitors a chance to spot humpbacks off the coast. The Daintree Rainforest and Cairns region are accessible and comfortable before the wet season arrives. The Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast enjoy mild beach weather with fewer crowds than summer, making it a sweet spot for families and couples alike.
What to pack: Lightweight clothing, a light jacket or layer for evenings, sunscreen and sunglasses, reef-safe swimwear, comfortable walking shoes, and insect repellent for rainforest areas.
☀️ Summer (December – February)
Summer is Queensland’s hottest and wettest season, particularly in the tropical north. Cairns, Port Douglas, and the Cape York Peninsula experience the monsoon wet season, with heavy rainfall, high humidity, and the risk of tropical cyclones. Stinger (jellyfish) season is also in full effect along the north Queensland coast, restricting unprotected swimming at many beaches. However, the south-east — including Brisbane, the Gold Coast, and the Sunshine Coast — enjoys its best beach weather, with long sunny days and warm temperatures averaging 28°C to 32°C. Summer school holidays bring larger crowds and higher accommodation prices across the state. For those drawn to tropical Queensland, this season offers the lush, verdant landscape at its most dramatic, with waterfalls at their fullest.
What to pack: Light, breathable clothing, a compact umbrella or packable rain jacket, swimwear and stinger suits for northern beaches, reef-safe sunscreen, insect repellent, and a reusable water bottle to stay hydrated.
🍂 Autumn (March – May)
Autumn is widely regarded as one of the finest times to visit tropical Queensland. The wet season begins to ease from March onwards, and by April and May, the skies over Cairns and the Daintree clear considerably, humidity drops, and the landscape is lush and green from the rains. The Great Barrier Reef is at its most vibrant after the wet season replenishes the ocean, and water visibility improves steadily. Temperatures remain warm throughout the state — around 24°C to 30°C in the north and 18°C to 26°C in the south-east — without the summer intensity. Crowds thin out compared to the peak season, and accommodation prices soften. Autumn is also an excellent time for the Atherton Tablelands, with the scenic drives particularly stunning after the rains.
What to pack: Light to mid-weight clothing, a waterproof layer for any lingering showers, comfortable walking or hiking shoes, sunscreen, swimwear, and a hat for daytime excursions.
❄️ Winter (June – August)
Winter is peak season for the tropical north of Queensland and arguably the best time to visit Cairns, the Whitsundays, and the Great Barrier Reef. The dry season brings clear blue skies, low humidity, minimal rainfall, and ideal conditions for snorkelling, diving, sailing, and wildlife watching. Temperatures in Cairns hover around a very comfortable 20°C to 25°C. In south-east Queensland, winters are mild and sunny with temperatures ranging from 11°C to 22°C in Brisbane — cool enough for jumpers in the evening but warm enough for outdoor dining and day trips. Humpback whales begin arriving in Queensland waters from June onwards, making whale-watching off the Whitsundays and Hervey Bay a highlight. Demand is high, particularly in July during the Australian school holidays, so booking ahead is essential.
What to pack: Light daytime clothing, a warm layer or light jumper for evenings (especially in Brisbane and the south-east), comfortable shoes, sunscreen, swimwear for the north, and a compact day pack for tours and reef trips.
Summary Table
| Season | Months | Temp Range | Rainfall | Crowds | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spring | Sep–Nov | 20–28°C | Low–Moderate | Moderate | Reef, Whitsundays, whale watching |
| Summer | Dec–Feb | 28–32°C | High (north) | High | SE beaches, waterfalls, rainforest |
| Autumn | Mar–May | 24–30°C | Decreasing | Low–Moderate | Tropical QLD, reef, tablelands |
| Winter | Jun–Aug | 20–25°C | Very Low | High | Tropical north, diving, whale watching |
🌟 Overall Best Time to Visit
For most visitors, June to October represents the optimum window to explore Queensland. This period spans the dry season across the tropical north, the shoulder season in the south-east, and includes the spectacular humpback whale migration through Hervey Bay and the Whitsundays. The Great Barrier Reef offers its clearest waters and most accessible conditions, the rainforest is at its most welcoming, and the weather throughout the state strikes the best balance between warmth and comfort. Travellers who can visit outside the July school holiday peak will find quieter destinations and better value, but even at its busiest, Queensland in this window delivers everything the state is famous for: brilliant sunshine, extraordinary marine life, and landscapes of breathtaking scale and diversity.
More to Explore
