Giant Koala Restaurant Tourist Complex

DID YOU KNOW? In 1988, the owner of the Koala Country Kitchen and Koala Country Motor Inn Mrs Beryl Cowling came up with the idea of making The Giant Koala. Beryl & Jim Cowling commissioned internationally renowned Dutch sculptor Ben Van Zetten to sculpture the koala from cold cast bronze. Mr John McEwan from Adelaide (Beryl’s Brother-in-law) created the steel skeleton structure on which the koala was built. It took 7 tonnes of steel to make the structure. The skin of the koala was sculptured using fibreglass matting which was placed over the steel frame. A cold casting of bronze (consisting of 85-90% bronze) as well as fibreglass was then plastered onto the matting. In the construction of the koala, the head and shoulders totalling 6 meters was built on the ground and hoisted up with a crane and placed on the completed body. The completed structure stands 14 meters high and 7 meters wide. Taking over 12 tonnes of materials to complete. It’s equivalent to a 4 storey building and houses the gift shop as well as storage space.