The Big Pelican is a tourist attraction located on the foreshore of the Noosa River in Noosaville (Kabi Kabi Country), Queensland. It is among the several big things in Australia. The attraction is a popular spot for families to visit and take photos, as well as enjoy the surroundings and atmosphere. [1]
Affectionately called ‘Pelican Pete’ by locals, the pelican sculpture was created in 1977 to be part of the Council float in the Festival of the Waters street parade. The Council’s emblem at the time was a pelican (but has since been changed to a Boronia). [2]
The Big Pelican was originally designed by the Overseer, Jim Woods, and built by the signwriting staff at the Council’s workshop for Rotoract (a Rotary program young adults). Made of paper mache over a metal frame, the Big Pelican was able to rotate its head, blink its eyelashes, open and shut its bill, flap its wings, and wiggle its tail when operated by two people sitting inside the body using levers, pulleys, and a cable. There is also a seat upon its back to allow passengers to ride and wave to crowds.The Big Pelican participated in many parades over the years but has also required repair a number of times. It was not originally waterproof and one time it capsized off a pontoon into the Noosa River. [2]
It was installed as a static display in front of the Noosa Lakes Motel on Hilton Terrace (now Noosa Lakes Resort) in the 1980s. During the 1990s the Big Pelican was acquired by the owners of Pelican Boat Hire and moved to the roadside of Gympie Terrace. The pelican has since become a beloved meeting place by locals. The Big Pelican was repaired once more so that it could be used in street parades again but was returned to its place next to Pelican Boat Hire in Apex Park after the Gympie Terrace foreshore redevelopment in 2000. In 2007 Pelican Boat Hire restored Pelican Pete once more with fibreglass used to strengthen the structure. Council ceded the land for its permanent location on the foreshore and the Rotary Club at Noosa Heads donated the accompanying garden. [2]
The pelican was a huge success and later featured on post cards and other tourist material as ‘Percy the Pelican’, believed to be named after Mr Percival from Storm Boy, a book by Colin Thiele that had been released as a movie in 1976. [2]
Children’s book character 'Peter P. Pelican' of the 'I CAN' series by local author, Wendy Alice Wareing, [3] immortalises the giant Australian icon. The large, bright books feature handpainted illustrations of sparkly decorated wildlife and Australian landscapes. The educational series titles are: "I can see the colour and the light of Noosa", [4] "I can read Australia", [5] "I can write Australia", [6] "I can design Australia" [7] and "I can act Australia". [8]
The Big Pelican is referenced in Season 3 Episode 96 of the Australian children's show Bluey . [9]
The Sunshine Coast is a peri-urban region in South East Queensland, Australia. In 1967, it was defined as "the area contained in the [former] Shires of Landsborough, Maroochy and Noosa, but excluding Bribie Island". Located 100 km (62 mi) north of the centre of Brisbane in South East Queensland, on the Coral Sea coastline, its urban area spans approximately 60 km (37 mi) of coastline and hinterland from Pelican Waters to Tewantin.
Gympie is a city and a locality in the Gympie Region, Queensland, Australia. Located in the Greater Sunshine Coast, Gympie is about 170.7 kilometres (110 mi) north of the state capital, Brisbane. The city lies on the Mary River, which floods Gympie occasionally. The locality of Gympie is the central business district for the city of Gympie and also the administrative centre for the Gympie Region local government area. In the 2021 census, Gympie had an urban population of 22,424 people.
The National Library of Australia (NLA), formerly the Commonwealth National Library and Commonwealth Parliament Library, is the largest reference library in Australia, responsible under the terms of the National Library Act 1960 for "maintaining and developing a national collection of library material, including a comprehensive collection of library material relating to Australia and the Australian people", thus functioning as a national library. It is located in Parkes, Canberra, ACT.
Peregian Beach is a beach and small coastal town on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia. It is a suburb split between two local government areas with the eastern coastal in the Shire of Noosa and the western hinterland part in the Sunshine Coast Region. In the 2021 census, Peregian Beach had a population of 4,972 people.
The Shire of Noosa is a local government area about 130 kilometres (81 mi) north of Brisbane in the Sunshine Coast district of South East Queensland, Australia. The shire covers an area of 870 square kilometres (335.9 sq mi). It existed as a local government entity from 1910 until 2008, when it was amalgamated with the Shire of Maroochy and City of Caloundra to form the Sunshine Coast Region. The shire was re-established on 1 January 2014. In the 2021 census, the shire had a population of 56,298 people.
The Kabi Kabi people, also spelt Gubbi Gubbi, Gabi Gabi, and other variants, are an Aboriginal Australian people native to South Eastern Queensland. During the Australian frontier wars of the 19th century, there were several mass killings of Kabi Kabi people by settlers. They are now classified as one of several Murri language groups in Queensland. A 2024 determination granted non-exclusive native title rights over an 365,345-hectare (902,790-acre) area of land and waters on the Sunshine Coast.
The Gympie Pyramid is a nickname for an archaeological site otherwise known as Rocky Ridge, or Djaki Kundu by the Gubbi Gubbi/ Kabi Kabi people. It consists of the rounded eastern end of a sandstone ridge, and is located on the Gympie Connection Road, some 5 km (3.1 mi) north-east of the town of Gympie in Queensland, Australia.
Rainbow Beach is a coastal rural town and locality in the Gympie Region, Queensland, Australia. In the 2021 census, the locality of Rainbow Beach had a population of 1,220 people.
Cooran is a rural hinterland town and locality in the Shire of Noosa, Queensland, Australia. In the 2021 census, the locality of Cooran had a population of 1,756 people.
Tin Can Bay is a coastal town and locality in the Wide Bay–Burnett region in Queensland, Australia. The locality is split between the Fraser Coast Region and the Gympie Region, but the town itself is within Gympie Region. In the 2021 census, the locality of Tin Can Bay had a population of 2,293 people.
The Sunshine Coast Region is a local government area located in the Sunshine Coast region of South East Queensland, Australia, from which it takes its name.
The Gympie Region is a local government area in the Wide Bay–Burnett region of Queensland, Australia, about 170 kilometres (110 mi) north of Brisbane, the state capital. It is between the Sunshine Coast and Hervey Bay and centred on the town of Gympie. It was created in 2008 from a merger of the Shires of Cooloola and Kilkivan and part of the Shire of Tiaro.
George Marlow was an Australian theatrical entrepreneur born in London of Jewish extraction, noted for bringing melodrama and pantomime to Sydney audiences in the early 1900s. His name has been frequently mis-spelled as "George Marlowe".
Ethel Isabel Lang, also known as Ethel Brunton Gibb, was an Australian actress prominent as a pioneering local radio performer during the 1930s, but also appeared in numerous stage roles. From the age of seven she appeared in school plays and concerts before being asked to play Napoleon's son in The Royal Divorce. Stage roles included Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Merchant of Venice
Gubbi Gubbi, also spelt Kabi Kabi, is a language of Queensland in Australia, formerly spoken by the Kabi Kabi people of South-east Queensland. The main dialect, Gubbi Gubbi, is extinct, but there are still 24 people with knowledge of the Butchulla dialect, a language spoken by the Butchulla people of K'gari.
Sir Joseph Aloysius Sheehy KBE was an Australian jurist and Senior Puisne Judge of the Queensland Supreme Court. He also served as Administrator of the Government of Queensland in 1965 and 1969, and as Queensland's Lieutenant-Governor, Deputy Governor, Acting Governor and Acting Chief Justice on several occasions.
Football Queensland Sunshine Coast is the governing body of football (soccer) on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland. It is a member zone of Football Queensland and Football Federation Australia.
Kanigan is a rural locality split between the Fraser Coast Region and the Gympie Region, both in Queensland, Australia. In the 2021 census, Kanigan had a population of 143 people.
The Webb Brothers were an Australian family country music band originating out of Queensland.
26°23′53″S153°03′38″E / 26.39801°S 153.06043°E
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