Australians are renowned for their unique and extreme sense of humour, but sometimes we seem to take things a bit far. There are a few town and place names that leave even Aussies scratching their heads and asking ‘what were they thinking?’ We’ve gone state by state to find the weirdest named places that you will only find in Australia.
Tasmania
Granny’s Gut
You may say give poor granny a break. She’s lived through two wars, raised 11 children and buried a husband. She’s earned that gut. But Granny’s Gut isn’t actually an epicentre of retirement villages, it’s a lake in pelican sanctuary near St Helen’s on Tasmania’s East Coast. You can swim or kayak around Granny’s Gut, provided you don’t mind the sometimes freezing water.
Other honourable mentions include:
Mossy Nipple Bend, Shag Head, Funny Knob Creek and Pisspot Creek.
Victoria
Blowhard
Although it may be mistaken as an explosive sequel to the Diehard movies or a forgotten villain in a James Bond film, Blowhard is in fact a charming rural area approximately 17 kilometres north-west of Ballarat located between Creswick and Learmonth.
Other honourable mentions include:
Sausage Gully, Mount Buggery, Teddy Bear’s Gap, Titwobble Lane, Ding-a-ding
NSW
Balls Head
Whilst the mere mention of the name may inspire involuntary eye-watering from several males of the species, Balls Head is instead a peaceful nature reserve overlooking Sydney Harbour nestled between Berrys Bay and Balls Head Bay. The seemingly unfortunately named park derived its name in honour to Lieutenant Henry Lidgbird Ball of the First Fleet.
Other honourable mentions include:
The Boobs, Rooty Hill, Boozer Creek.
Canberra
Rather than unfortunate place names, Canberra has a plethora of unfortunate street names. The most ‘strayan would have to be Sanger Street and Bogan Place. Your guess is as good as ours about why and how these came to be.
Other honourable mentions include:
Cockburn Street, Purves Place, Iron Knob Street, De Mole Street.
Queensland
Yorkeys Knob
Often creating a snigger whenever said aloud, the beauty of Yorkeys Knob beach is nothing at which to snigger. Located north of Cairns between Cairns and Palm Beach, Yorkeys Knob is a mecca for paddle boarding, kite riding, fishing and bird watching.
Other honourable mentions include:
Mount Mistake, Ugly Creek, Mount Surprise, Dumpy Creek.
Northern Territory
Rum Jungle
Hopefully the tourists won’t take this name literally as Rum Jungle isn’t a place where rum bottles grow on trees, it is in fact the site of a former uranium mine. The Rum Jungle in the Northern Territory got its name from an incident where miners had their gold stolen after getting drunk on rum.
Other honourable mentions include:
Aaaa Road, Boggy Plain, Cape Cockburn, Dirty Water Billabong, Fanny Creek.
WA
Useless Loop
Sounding like a place where you might drive around in never ending cul-de-sacs, Useless Loop is a closed company town in Western Australia servicing the Solar Salt Operation Shark Bay. Walking along the pristine beach at Denham you can see the white salt mountain at Useless Loop some 250 kilometres away.
Other honourable mentions include:
Woop Woop, Dog Swamp, Xantippe, Disaster Bay, Geekabee Hill, Monkey Mia, Point Torment.
SA
Break Wind Reserve
Most people under normal circumstances would want to avoid breaking wind, however Break Wind Reserve is a welcome respite along the Princes Highway between Meningie and Policeman Point overlooking cattle island.
Other honourable mentions include:
Bullshit Hill, Cream Puff Corner, Nowhere Else Road.
