Humpty Doo, NT
No one really knows how Humpty Doo earned its name, but we can all agree that it’s a keeper.
About 40 kilometres south-east of Darwin, the small town is a popular stop-off for tourists.
Travellers on the way to the Kakadu National Park will spot Humpty Doo’s mascot, The Big Boxing Croc.
At 13 metres tall, the fibreglass beast wears a pair of red boxing gloves. The town’s also been immortalised in several bush ballads, including Slim Dusty’s Humpty Doo Waltz and Ted Egan’s The Man from Humpty Doo.
Bum Bum Creek, QLD
Drive to Crows Nest along the New England Highway and you might just see a sign saying ‘Bum Bum Creek’.
But chances are you won’t, because according to locals, ‘it keeps getting nicked’.
No one knows why Bum Bum Creek’s been dumped with its less-than-flattering name, but there’s no doubt it’s the butt of many jokes.
Pretty Sally Hill, VIC
‘Pretty’ Sally Smith had her admirers, but it seems they weren’t enamoured by her good looks.
Weighing in at 140 kilos, the ‘very stout and ugly old woman’ ran an unlicensed pub in the 1840s at the foot of a 529-metre tall dormant volcano in the Great Dividing Range. And it seems that Pretty Sally was a fan of a tipple, too.
Sadly, she died when she crashed her horse and cart after indulging in a few too many bevvies.
‘My word, sir,’ a witness supposedly said, ‘Had you seen that overgrown huge mountain of flesh fall from the dray, and roll over and over, you never would have forgotten it. The earth fairly shook from violent concussion.’
Bogan Gate, NSW
You’ve got Buckley’s chance of getting into Bogan Gate without donning some seriously ocker get-up. For mullet-toting, singlet-shorts-and-thongs-wearing Aussies, this is the place to be. Or does the gate keep the bogans out?
Just pulling your leg!
The inhabitants of this charming town in NSW’s central west aren’t yobbos. The name actually comes from a local Aboriginal word, meaning ‘the birthplace of a notable headman of the local tribe’. So the next time you get called a bogan, think of it as a compliment!
Mamungkukumpurangkuntjunya Hill, SA
With 26 letters in total, Australia’s longest place name matches the alphabet in length! The mouthful of a moniker means ‘where the devil urinates’ in the regional Pitjantjatjara language.
Mount Meharry, WA
Strewth! As far as requests go, it’s fairly direct.
But Western Australia’s highest mountain isn’t named after an irresistibly handsome bloke named Harry who drove the ladies wild with lust.
In less saucier fashion, the 1259m peak got its name from the state’s chief geodetic surveyor, William Meharry, back in the ’50s. And it seems like mining magnate Gina Rinehart’s not so keen on the name. She’s applied twice to have the landmark renamed Mount Hancock, after her dad.
Eggs and Bacon Bay, Tas
Lady Jane Franklin – the wife of the 18th century Tasmanian governor, Sir John – loved to eat her eggs and bacon with a view of the water. So much so that the gorgeous bay was named after her favourite brekkie. Once known as South Deep Bay, animal activist group PETA campaigned for yet another name change of the bay last year.
‘Considering the high levels of cholesterol and saturated fat in both eggs and bacon, the area might as well be called Heart Attack Bay,’ campaign coordinator Claire Fryer told the ABC.
To celebrate the region’s crops, the group suggested Apple and Cherry Bay instead. No yolk – it’s an egg-cellent name – but we prefer the original.
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