27 Australian place names you keep pronouncing wrong

From Woolloomooloo to Wangkatjungka, Australia is full of place names, which are not only difficult to spell, but also make your tongue tingling. There is nothing more screaming “I’m a tourist” than saying the name of the town you just arrived in. Depending on where you are from, the correct statement of these places is either very obvious or completely inexplicable.

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Foster, New South Wales

This beach town is a great resort, and even R decided to take a break-this is FOSS-ter.

Manuka, ACT

Not to be confused with honey (Ma-NOO-ka), the suburb of Canberra is MAR-na-ka.

Cockburn, Washington State/South Australia

Western Australia and South Australia both have one of them, and when you pronounce it like a local, there is nothing embarrassing: Co-burn.

Lackland, Tas

Tasmanians are of course unique, and this small place outside Hobart proves it: it is not Rockland, but Lackland.

Canowendra, New South Wales

This small town (it is called the hot air balloon capital of Australia) may have a lot of hot air, but its name is absolutely windless. It is Can-OUN-dra (not to be confused with Caloundra on the Sunshine Coast).

Revenshue, Queensland

You can pronounce Raven or Shoe. But put them together, what do you get? Something completely different: Ravens-ho.

Katy Lake, New South Wales

You would think it would be pronounced Cathy Lake, just like Cathy Freeman. But you are wrong-it is cat’s eye.

Derby, Washington State/Tasmania

In most parts of Australia, when you talk about sports, derby is pronounced darby. In Western Australia, it is pronounced differently-DER-be-so is the popular Kimberley tourist town of Derby. And-even though the locals in Tasmania use darby for sports, their Derby (a popular mountain biking destination) is also DER-be.

Hervey Bay, Queensland

If Derby is DER-by, then Hervey must be HER-vey? No, it’s pronounced Harvey.

Jervis Bay, New South Wales/Capital Territory

One of the most beautiful and confusing places in Australia. Not only does the area strangely contain 7,456 hectares of ACT-administered coast, but also the Jervis Bay Territory (despite 250 kilometers from Canberra) whose pronunciation has been controversial for decades. The Sydneysiders and navy personnel were convinced that this was JAR-vis, but the locals swore it was JER-vis.The Local Council and the New South Wales Geographical Names Committee have previously Stand on the opposite side of the debate, And a Experts consulted by ABC Claiming “there are two correct answers”. (By the way, Cape Jervis in South Australia is said to be named after the same British admiral as Jervis Bay, pronounced JER-vis.)

Woolloomooloo, New South Wales

Everyone in Sydney knows that the pronunciation of this suburb is Woola-maloo. But few people can spell it correctly the first time.

Wangkatjungka, WA

Not far from some of the stunning canyons and water holes in Kimberley is this indigenous community, pronounced Won-ka-jon-ka.

Victoria State Reservoir

Just shorten it to Rezzy and you are safe. This suburb in the north of Melbourne is not Resa-vwah, but Resa-vore.

K’gari, QLD

Of course, you can deceive and call it Fraser Island-but once you see this amazing place, you may find that its indigenous name K’gari, also known as “paradise”, is more appropriate. Its pronunciation is Gurri—K is silent.

Kata Tjuta, Northern Territory

Likewise, you can call it The Olgas, but use its original name to show respect for the traditional owner. It is pronounced Catta-jew-tah.

Ebbw Vale, QLD

This is not a typographical error, it is a suburb of southeast Queensland named after the Welsh town. It is pronounced Eb-b​​oo Vale.

Albany, Washington

Knowing what to say Albury is not helping you here, East Coasters. This is not All-bany, but Al-bany (such as Al-phabet).

Bonito, ACT / Port of Bonito, SA

This one has no bones, it is Bon-EYE-thon.

Quindy Wendy, Queensland

It’s on the border of New South Wales, so maybe this explains why, although the spelling is so different from the similar-sounding Gundagai, it is pronounced Gunda-windy.

Mount Kosciuszko, New South Wales

The Australian is very consistent with Kozzy-oss-ko. However, technically speaking, the Polish pronunciation of Kosciuszko should be “Kosh-chush-ko”. Once again, there are dozens of places and landmarks in the world named after Polish military leader Tadeusz Kosciuszko-from Kosciuszko Bridge in New York to Kosciuszko in Mississippi Ko Town, the birthplace of Oprah Winfrey – Every place is where locals have given their own pronunciation twists, including “Kah-zee-ESS-ko” and “Kos-kee-OOS-ko” .

Balan, Vic

Obviously, 90% of outsiders get this wrong. Not BALL-an, nor BELL-an, but Ba-LAN.

Varan, Vic

If Balan is Balan, Varan must be Varan, right? No, this is WOLL-en.

Gulf Studies, TAS

Do research on this… and pronounce it as “research”.

Gumeracha

This Adelaide hill town is the hometown of Rocking Horse, pronounced Gum-er-ack-a.

Wachop, New South Wales

Although the original Wachopp family, this town was named after them, apparently their name is “Walk-op”, Locals prefer Hope of war. The war is definitely not choppy.

Tiaro, Queensland

This town is located on the Mary River in the hinterland of the Fraser Coast-but no one can guess where its “A” has disappeared. This is not Tee-are-row, but Tie-row.

Coogee, Washington State/New South Wales

No matter which pronunciation you use, you will make a mistake somewhere. The suburb of Perth is KOO-jee; the suburb of Sydney is COULD-jee.

Mamungkukumpurangkuntjunya Hill, SA

At first glance, the longest place name in Australia, you might run up the mountain, but here is evidence that it is not impossible to pronounce it-even on live TV: