Funny Australian Town Names

Australia is known for being the home to some of the world’s cutest marsupials as well as some of the deadliest creatures on the planet. It’s also known to have some strange, funny, and downright inappropriate town names, too.

Yet Australians don’t blink an eye when people mention their odd place names. With an island continent that is almost the size of Europe, it would be easy enough to run out of regular names to call local landmarks and towns. It would seem as though many of the prospectors and authorities who named these locations appear to have quite the sense of humor.

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Here are 30 of Australia’s funniest and quirkiest town and place names. All of the locations mentioned are in fact 100% real, and there are hundreds more as depicted on the maps below.

Humpybong

Located in southeast Queensland, the name Humpybong is derived from the Indigenous word for shelter. The town has come a long way from the simple huts it was named after. It now features a yacht club.

Eggs and Bacon Bay

Situated in the Huon Valley in Tasmania, Eggs and Bacon Bay was apparently named after Lady Jane Franklin’s favorite breakfast.

Saucebottle Swamp

You’ll need to travel to Queensland to visit Saucebottle Swamp.

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Sausage Gully

Sausage Gully is a seasonal creek in Victoria.

Boing Boing

The town of Boing Boing in the Northern Territory isn’t actually a bouncy town. The name is Indigenous for “mosquitoes buzzing.”

Quality Knob

Quality Knob mountain is located near Camooweal and is around 1700km northwest of Brisbane in Queensland.

Wattanobbi

Wattanobbi is on the Central Coast of New South Wales. While it was once believed that the name originated from an Indigenous language, some folklore tales also ascribe the name to a well-traveled pioneer who corrupted the Japanese name ‘Watanabe’ and that there is no Aboriginal significance to the same.

Prominent Nob

There seem to be quite a few nobs in Australia. Prominent Nob is in South Australia. Incidentally, there’s a town named Iron Knob in the same state.

Mossy Nipple Bend

Mossy Nipple Bend in Tasmania is located near Lake Fanny.

Boobs Flat

Tasmania really does take the prize for quirky place names. Boobs Flat is located right next to the town of Big Bush.

Bumbunga

Bumbunga is a locality in the mid-north of South Australia. Incidentally, Lake Bumbunga is a salt lake that changes color throughout the year from pink to white to blue, depending on the salinity of the water.

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Nowhere Else

Nowhere Else is a rural town in northern Tasmania, and it sure sounds like a unique name, except there is also a Nowhere Else Road in South Australia.

Foul Bay

This bay on the Yorke Peninsula in South Australia really isn’t so bad. It’s actually quite stunning.

Fannie Bay

Fannie Bay is a suburb outside the city of Darwin in the Northern Territory. If you’re headed to Fannie Bay, you’ll need to drive along Dick Ward Drive to get there.

Well It Wasn’t There Last Year

What do you call a cave that you missed the first time you prospected an area in South Australia? “Well It Wasn’t There Last Year Cave” is the actual name of a cave located in the mid-Murray region in South Australia.

Useless Loop

Located near Shark Bay in Western Australia is Useless Loop. The bay was originally named by the French explorer as ‘Havre Inutile’, which translates as ‘Useless Harbor’.

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Prickly Bottom

This Tasmanian beach sounds rather uncomfortable, but in reality, it’s a rather nice beachside location.

The End of the World

Those Tasmanian place names really take the cake.

Mamungkukumpurangkuntjunya

Mamungkukumpurangkuntjunya Hill is officially the longest place name in Australia. Located in the Indigenous Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara lands in the north of the state of South Australia, the name is derived from ‘where the devil urinates’ in regional Pitjantjatjara language.

Bogan Place

Bogan Place is located in Australia’s capital of Canberra. For those who might not be aware, Aussie slang for ‘hillbilly’ is ‘bogan’.

Shag Head

Once again located in Tasmania, Shag Head is located a little north of Middle Arm.

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Mount Buggery

Mount Buggery is in the Alpine region of Victoria.

Mount Blowhard

Queensland’s Mount Blowhard is another amusing name for a local peak.

Woolloomooloo

This town in New South Wales isn’t really funny, but it sure is fun to say.

Bumcooler Flat

Bumcooler Flat is a stretch of land near Lake Alexandrina in South Australia.

Spanker Knob

Spanker Knob is a mountain situated in the state of Victoria near the South Pacific Ocean.

Bullshit Hill

Before anyone censors this article for profanity, keep in mind that Bullshit Hill is a real place in South Australia located not far from Peterborough.

Stinkhole

Whoever named the towns in Tasmania really liked to say what was on their minds at the time.

Cock Wash Creek

There really is a place in South Australia known as Cock Wash Creek. It’s in the foothills near the city of Adelaide.

Pisspot Creek

Yes, once again it’s a real town name in Tasmania. You couldn’t make these place names up even if you tried.

If you’re thinking of heading Down Under, consider adding some of these quirky place names to your must-visit list.

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