Ploddy the Dinosaur was the guest of honour at a special event celebrating the Australian Reptile Park's 30th year at Somersby last week.
She even got a tattoo for the occasion.
Guests were transported to Ploddy's M1 vantage point by bus on August 26, welcomed by the town crier, and interacted with roving wildlife including koalas, snakes, turtles and lizards as live music played beneath the Central Coast's most famous landmark.
Ploddy has been a part of the Australian Reptile Park story since 1963, when founder Eric Worrell commissioned the design and construction of a 26-metre concrete replica of a Diplodocus dinosaur.
Weighing in at almost 100 tonnes, she took two months to build, and stood proudly at the park's original Wyoming location for 33 years.
Ploddy is believed to be Australia's first giant roadside icon, predating the Big Banana, the Big Pineapple and every other oversized landmark that followed.
When the freeway bypassed the Wyoming site in the early 1990s, visitation dropped dramatically. Owner John Weigel knew the park had to move. He scouted more than 15 sites before finding Somersby, drawn in by its bushland setting and the lake that would become home to the park's American alligator lagoon.
Every animal, every exhibit, and Ploddy, made the 10-kilometre journey from Wyoming to Somersby, cheered on by more than 10,000 people at a street parade through Gosford.
For the past 30 years Ploddy has lived on a hill overlooking the Sydney to Newcastle M1 Pacific Highway. She is seen by more than 40 million passing vehicles every year.
The Australian Reptile Park is the only zoo in Australia that milks snakes and funnel-web spiders to create life-saving antivenom.
Visitors to the park are invited to join in the month-long 30th anniversary celebrations throughout September.
"The next 30 years hopefully sees us thrive like the last 30," Australian Reptile Park managing director Tim Faulkner said.
"We are a community-based wildlife organisation and that's our market, our community. We look forward to seeing everyone again in the next 30 years."
