NSW is home to stunning beaches, brilliant bushwalks and sprawling national parks. It is also home to Flirtation Hill, The Boobs and Burrumbuttock. Yes, no kidding. You’d think some thought and precaution would go into naming a town, but not in our case. NSW is replete with funny street and town names that perfectly depict a sense of humour and personality. An ode to the founding fathers, an inside joke or a local landmark — whatever the case, NSW is home to some truly quirky and original town names.
We’ve scoured the state to locate 15 of the funniest and zaniest names you can find on the map. Have fun!
1. Mount Great Groaner
Mount Great Groaner is a summit in NSW and has an elevation of 676 metres. It also sounds like me on a Monday.
2. Woolloomooloo
This inner-city Eastern suburb of Sydney gets its name from Wallamullah, meaning place of plenty or Wallabahmullah, meaning a young black kangaroo.
3. Come by Chance
A small locality in the northern district of NSW, Come by Chance actually has a funny story behind its name. In 1862, George and William Colless purchased a sheep station and named it ‘Come by Chance’ to depict their surprise at being able to make this purchase in this particular area. The town was later named after the property.
4. Bong Bong
So good, they named it twice. Located within the Southern Highlands, Bong Bong (also written as Toombong and Boong Boong) is an Aboriginal word for the area said to mean ‘the seating part of the human anatomy’ and also ‘many frogs’. Unfortunately Bong Bong is just a name on a map now, but the name lives on.
5. Delicate Nobby
Delicate Nobby is in northeast of NSW and a popular spot for camping and surfers. There is no known story behind the name so we’ll have to leave this up to imagination.
6. Tom Ugly
Located in Southern NSW, there are many stories about the origins of this name. One is that it was named after a resident, Tom Huxley, a name the local aboriginal people had difficulty pronouncing. So Tom Huxley naturally, became Tom ugly.
7. Wee Waa
Popularly known as the cotton capital of Australia, the Aboriginal meaning of Wee Waa is ‘Fire for Roasting’ from the language of the Kamilaroi people.
8. Nevertire
Sometimes you have to name a town and its just been a really long day. Nevertire is a rural village in NSW and located in Warren shire.
9. Balls Head
Balls Head is a peaceful reserve overlooking Sydney’s beautiful harbour. The unfortunate name is in honour of Lieutenant Henry Lidgbird Ball of the First Fleet.
10. Pleasure Point
This small suburb in Western Sydney is an actual name for a place and something tells us this is not where families will want to organise their picnics.
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11. Rooty Hill
This popular suburb of Sydney is named after a place of the same name on Norfolk Island. Another explanation is that a lot of tree roots had to be cleared to create a road in the area.
12. Bastard Point
Bastard Point is located in Oberon, NSW and lets just assume someone was not having a good day when they named it?
13. Cumbooglecumbang
Seriously, what? Cumbooglecumbang can be found south of the Cumboogle path outside Dubbo and needless to say, is a testament to bizarre Aussie town names.
14. Ticklebelly Gully
Also a great name for a boy band. Not much is known about the origin of the jolly town name but it is suggested that it might have something to do with horse racing, since belly tickling is a common technique in the sport.
15. Woody Head
This little fishing and camping area near the town of Iluka in Northern NSW is a source of much entertainment to visiting tourists thanks to its name. It was named because of the thick forest along the shoreline.
In hindsight, the name Sydney almost sounds a bit boring now, doesn’t it?
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