Dale the Spider – Avondale

Avondale, Auckland, New Zealand

Roadside giants

Historical – no longer at this location

Checked by Project Big Things · Aug 2026

This Big Thing is recorded for its history. It is no longer at this location, so it is not a stop to plan a trip around.

A giant steel-and-fibreglass Avondale spider, long a town-centre mascot, currently in storage for restoration and relocation.

Private to your Passport.

PLANNING A VISIT?

Not a stop to travel to

This Big Thing is recorded for its history. It is no longer at this location, so it is not a stop to plan a trip around.

Dale the Spider – Avondale

This pin marks the Big Thing itself. If stopping, choose a safe and legal place nearby.

Approximate location · 36.890° S, 174.700° E

FIELD GUIDE

The story

Dale started life on a petrol station roof and was very nearly thrown away.

The giant fibreglass and steel spider sat atop Mobil Avondale until 1999, when a change of policy by Mobil Australia meant it had to come down. It was then stored under the Taphouse bar, owned by the Portage Trust, and might easily have stayed there – except the Avondale Business Association took it on, repurposed it and installed it in the new town square in July 2002. Grants from the Portage Trust and the Avondale Community Board, with funding from the Avondale Mainstreet Programme, covered a $50,000 installation.

It was at that relaunch that it acquired its name. The sculpture was made by Ray Harmen at Bootleg Designs Ltd under the working title Boris, and re-emerged as Dale – a pun on the suburb, and a considerable improvement.

The subject is genuinely local. The Avondale spider, a large flat huntsman-type spider unusual for living socially in colonies, is named for the suburb and is one of the few animals in New Zealand that a specific Auckland neighbourhood can claim.

Dale stood in the town centre for more than twenty years. On 8 October 2024 he was taken down again, this time to make way for Te Hono, the new Avondale library and community hub beginning construction on the site that December – a project the Whau Local Board approved in 2021 and which Auckland Council backed in September 2023 by reallocating $15 million to secure its future.

He is in storage with his original creators while the Business Association, which owns him, plans restoration and a new permanent home. Twice displaced, twice saved.

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PRACTICAL

Plan your stop

WHAT TO EXPECT

Dale the Spider is a giant steel-and-fibreglass sculpture that has long served as a town-centre mascot in Avondale. It is not currently on public display: the sculpture is in storage awaiting restoration and a new home.

ACCESS

Not currently visitable as a displayed attraction. Do not navigate users to the former town-square site expecting to see Dale.

COMMUNITY

Visitor Log

WHAT'S NEXT

Find another Big Thing nearby

A 5.6-metre boy strides through Auckland's Potters Park in this monumental public artwork by New Zealand artist Ronnie van Hout, developed from a 3D scan of his own son.

Public art

4.3 km away

✓ Recommended arrival recorded

TRANSPARENCY

Sources & research

Auckland Council – Te Hono

Auckland Council / Eke Panuku · recorded 2026-08-23

Current council redevelopment page confirms Dale removed and safely stored.

Government

Avondale Mainstreet – The Spider

Avondale Business Association · recorded 2026-08-23

Owner page confirms 8 October 2024 removal, current storage and intended restoration.

Official

What we're still checking

Dale is currently in storage; its restored location and return date are not yet confirmed.

Open-licence image search completed 24 August 2026. No defensible reusable image with file-level commercial-use provenance was verified in the completed Commons, government/open-licence and archival/open-collection sweep.

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