A far north Queensland man says he was “completely gobsmacked” after his special message to the world was a big hit on social media, and attracted thousands of visitors to his property.

Frederick James decided to write the words “G’day world from Oz” in huge sunflower letters that could be seen from the sky at Innisfail, south of Cairns.

“I thought I’d like to send a message to the whole world and I thought that’s what I’ll do,” he said.

James enlisted the help of his neighbours and a group of seasonal workers from Vanuatu to plant more than 40,000 sunflower seeds on the property. “It went completely viral,” he said.

Over the past six weeks, more than 5000 people have travelled from around Queensland to see the spectacular sight with some visitors from as far away as Brisbane and the Gold Coast.

“Overwhelmed, I was completely overwhelmed — I was gobsmacked,” he said. “I had cars parked all over the place and I had a traffic jam down my front road … I had to get people to help me with traffic control.”

James said the message was all about bringing joy to people during a challenging year.

“People were actually smiling, taking photographs and selfies. They just felt totally at ease,” he said.

“I think their minds were taken off the darkness of the world at the moment like the coronavirus, the [US] presidential situation … I thought this message would enlighten people a little.”

James said although the sunflowers had now withered and the property was closed to visitors, he was already planning a new message for next year.

“I’ll keep that [close to] my chest at the moment,” he said.

– ABC / Marian Faa