Can You Say These Tongue-Twister Australian Place Names?

The awkward moment when you realise you’ve been mispronouncing a place your whole life…

In Australia, our place names often originate from First Nations languages that have unique phonetic structures and sounds that are uncommon in English. Unfortunately, that means they are often mispronounced.

New research by language learning and culture experts Preply has analysed Australian place names and revealed the biggest tongue twisters.

Sylvia Johnson, head of methodology at language learning and culture experts Preply, says Australian place names are a clue to the country’s unique cultural heritage.

“While accurate translations and spellings may have been lost to time, many Australian place names are emblematic of those who have existed before," she says.

“When it comes to pronouncing long or unfamiliar place names, my advice is to speak the name slowly and sound out each syllable. Hearing the name phonetically can help imitate the native pronunciation."

How many of these places can you pronounce correctly on the first try?

Carrickalinga Beach in South Australia with person — New research has analysed Australian place names and revealed the biggest tongue twisters. (Image: Mitch Toft)

10. Albury-Wodonga, NSW/Victoria

The border city of Albury-Wodonga is separated by the Murray River with Albury in NSW and Wodonga in Victoria. The Albury-Wodonga area was known as Bungambrawatha, or ‘Homeland’, by the Wiradjuri people, until 1838 when colonisers decided ‘Albury’ was easier to pronounce. Wodonga, meaning ‘bulrushes’, still retains its Aboriginal name.

Pronunciation: Al-buh-ree-Wod-on-gah

Couple enjoying a riverside picnic at Noreuil Park, Albury. — Albury-Wodonga is separated by the Murray River. (Image: Destination NSW)

9. Widgiemooltha, Western Australia

An abandoned town in Western Australia, Widgiemooltha is not quite a ghost town, but it was once a thriving mining community found on the southern shoreline of Lake Leffroy. Located on Kalaako land, Widgiemooltha is believed to be derived from a word meaning ‘beak of an emu’.

Pronunciation: Wid-gee-mool-tha

Lake Leffroy near Widgiemooltha in Western Australia. — Lake Leffroy is near the abandoned Widgiemooltha.

8. Koolyanobbing, WA

Meaning ‘place of large rocks’, Koolyanobbing is an iron ore mining town between Perth and Kalgoorlie on Kapurn Country. Salt is also harvested from nearby Lake Deborah, a five-million-year-old salt lake.

Pronunciation: Kool-yah-nob-ing

7. Bishopsbourne, Tasmania

Bishopsbourne, or The Bourne as it’s called by the locals, is a tiny rural town (only 137 residents were recorded in the 2021 census) in northern Tasmania around half an hour from Launceston. The 13-letter place name is the easiest one for me on this list!

Pronunciation: Bish-ops-bourne

Bishopsbourne Church Of The Holy Nativity — Bishopsbourne is known as The Bourne to locals.

6. Carrickalinga, South Australia

Carrickalinga – or Karrakardlangga/Karragarlangga in Kaurna, a branch of the Pama–Nyungan languages – is a small, coastal town on South Australia’s Fleurieu Peninsula, on Kaurna land. The name is reportedly a corruption of the name given to a former Aboriginal camp meaning ‘place of redgum firewood’.

Pronunciation: Ka-ruh-kuh-ling-guh

Aerial shot of Carrickalinga Beach in South Australia — Carrickalinga has a stunning coastline. (Image: Jesse Ehlers)

5. Coonabarabran, NSW

On Wiradjuri Country, Coonabarabran is a small town that sits on the divide between the Central West and the North West Slopes regions of NSW. Meaning ‘inquisitive person’, Coonabarabran is actually the stargazing capital of Australia! The town is right beside Warrumbungle National Park, Australia’s first International Dark Sky Park.

Pronunciation: Koo-nuh-ba-ruh-bran

Scenic sunrise views across Warrumbungle National Park, near Coonabarabran. — Coonabarabran is the stargazing capital of Australia. (Image: Destination NSW)

4. Nowra-Bomaderry, NSW

Nowra-Bomaderry is one of the easier place names to say on this list, but it does have 14 letters in its name. Nowra-Bomaderry sits on either side of the Shoalhaven River on the NSW South Coast. The land to the north of the river is Dharawal Country, and the land to the south is Yuin Country. Nowra means ‘black cockatoo’ and Bomaderry means ‘fighting ground’ or ‘running water’ in the native languages.

Pronunciation: Now-rah-bow-ma-de-ree

Scenic views of the Shoalhaven River passing through Nowra. — Nowra-Bomaderry sits on either side of the Shoalhaven River. (Image: Destination NSW)

3. Boomahnoomoonah, Vic

Containing 15 letters, Boomahnoomoonah comes in third for Australia’s longest place names. Boomahnoomoonah is located roughly three hours’ drive from Melbourne, in the Shire of Moira in Victoria, an area known for its agriculture. Sitting between Yarrawonga and Wangaratta in north-eastern Victoria, Boomahnoomoonah is said to mean ‘big water’ in the local Yorta Yorta language.

Pronunciation: Boo-mah-noo-moo-nah

2. Cadibarrawirracanna, SA

Lake Cadibarrawirracanna is one of Australia’s beautiful salt lakes located near the well-known Kati Thanda–Lake Eyre in South Australia. It’s also the second biggest tongue twister when it comes to Australian place names with 19 letters. Often referred to as Lake Cadi, Cadibarrawirracanna means ‘the stars were dancing’ in the Arabana language.

Pronunciation: Cad-i-bar-rah-wir-a-can-nah

Aerial shot of Lake Cadibarrawirracanna in South Australia — Lake Cadibarrawirracanna is one of Australia’s beautiful salt lakes.

1. Mamungkukumpurangkuntjunya, SA

Taking out the top spot is Mamungkukumpurangkuntjunya, a hill in the Aṉangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara lands of South Australia. With 26 letters, Mamungkukumpurangkuntjunya translates to ‘where the devil urinates’.

Pronunciation: Ma-mung-koo-kum-pu-rang-kunt-jun-ya

Slow down and find your rhythm on a Murray River journey through time and place.

Trust is a funny thing. It seems not that long ago that my mother was insisting on pouring the milk into my cereal bowl, because she didn’t trust me not to slosh it over the table, and yet here I am on the Murray River at Mildura in far north-west Victoria, being handed the keys to a very new and very expensive luxury houseboat.

After a crash course in how not to crash, I’m at the wheel of the good ship Elevate – pride of the All Seasons fleet – guiding her upstream past red-ochre cliffs as pelicans glide above the rippled river and kookaburras call from reedy banks. There’s a brief moment of breath-holding while I negotiate a hairpin turn around a jagged reef of skeletal, submerged gum trees, before a cheer rings out and calm descends as the timeless river unfurls in front of us.

The Murray River winding through Yarrawonga. (Image: Rob Blackburn)

Setting sail from Mildura

Murray River birds — Home to a large number of bird species, including pelicans. (Image: The Precint Studios)

A journey along the Murray River is never less than magical, and launching from Mildura makes perfect sense. Up here the river is wide and largely empty, giving novice skippers like myself the confidence to nudge the 60-tonne houseboat up to the riverbank where we tie up for the night, without fear of shattering the glass elevator (the boat is fully wheelchair accessible) or spilling our Champagne.

My friends and I spend three days on the water, swimming and fishing, sitting around campfires onshore at night, and basking in air so warm you’d swear you were in the tropics. The simplicity of river life reveals an interesting dichotomy: we feel disconnected from the world but at the same time connected to Country, privileged to be part of something so ancient and special.

Stop one: Echuca

19th-century paddlesteamers — A historic 19th-century paddlesteamer cruises along the Murray River. (Image: Visit Victoria)

The six-hour drive from Melbourne to Mildura (or four hours and 20 minutes from Adelaide) is more than worth it, but you don’t have to travel that far to find fun on the river. Once Australia’s largest inland port, Echuca is the closest point on the Murray to Melbourne (two hours 45 minutes), and you’ll still find a plethora of paddlesteamers tethered to the historic timber wharf, a throwback to the thriving river trade days of the 19th century. The PS Adelaide, built in 1866 and the oldest wooden-hulled paddlesteamer operating in the world, departs daily for one-hour cruises, while a brand-new paddlesteamer, the PS Australian Star , is launching luxury seven-night voyages in December through APT Touring.

The town is also a hot food and wine destination. St Anne’s Winery at the historic Port of Echuca precinct has an incredibly photogenic cellar door, set inside an old carriage builders’ workshop on the wharf and filled with huge, 3000-litre port barrels. The Mill, meanwhile, is a cosy winter spot to sample regional produce as an open fire warms the red-brick walls of this former flour mill.

Stop two: Barmah National Park

Just half-an-hour upstream, Barmah National Park is flourishing, its river red gum landscape (the largest in the world) rebounding magnificently after the recent removal of more than 700 feral horses. The internationally significant Ramsar-listed wetland sits in the heart of Yorta Yorta Country, with Traditional Owners managing the environment in close partnership with Parks Victoria. Walkways weave through the forest, crossing creeks lined with rare or threatened plants, passing remnants of Yorta Yorta oven mounds and numerous scar trees, where the bark was removed to build canoes, containers or shields.

The Dharnya Centre (open weekdays until 3pm) is the cultural hub for the Yorta Yorta. Visitors can learn about the ecological significance of the Barmah Lakes on a 90-minute river cruise, led by a First Nations guide, or take a one-hour, guided cultural walking tour along the Yamyabuc Trail.

Stop three: Cobram

Continue east to Cobram to find the southern hemisphere’s largest inland beach. Swarming with sun-seekers in summer, the white sand of Thompson’s Beach is shaded by majestic river red gums and dotted with hundreds of beach umbrellas, as beachgoers launch all manner of water craft and set up stumps for beach cricket. But the beach is at its most captivating at sunset, when the crowds thin out, the glassy river mirrors the purple sky, and the canopies of the gum trees glow fiery orange.

The region is also home to some fine resorts and indulgent retreats. Yarrawonga Mulwala Golf Club Resort has two riverside championship golf courses, luxury apartments and self-contained villas. While not strictly on the Murray, the historic wine town of Rutherglen is rife with boutique (and unique) accommodation, including an exquisitely renovated red-brick tower in a French provincial-style castle at Mount Ophir Estate. Fans of fortified wines can unravel the mystery of Rutherglen’s ‘Muscat Mile’, meeting the vignerons and master-blenders whose artistry has put the town on the global map for this rich and complex wine style.

Stop four: Albury-Wodonga

First Nations YindyamarraSculpture Walk — First Nations Yindyamarra Sculpture Walk is part of the Wagirra Trail. (Image: Carmen Zammit)

Follow the river far enough upstream and you’ll arrive at the twin border cities of Albury-Wodonga. The Hume Highway thunders through, but serenity can be found along the five-kilometre Yindyamarra Sculpture Walk – part of the Wagirra Trail that meanders through river wetlands just west of Albury in Wiradjuri country. Fifteen sculptures by local First Nations artists line the trail, conveying stories of reconciliation, enduring connection to culture, local Milawa lore and traditional practices. It feels a long way from Mildura, and it is, but the pelicans and kookaburras remind us that it’s the same river, the great conduit that connects our country.

A traveller’s checklist

Staying there

New Mildura motel Kar-rama. (Image: Iain Bond Photo)

Kar-Rama is a brand-new boutique, retro-styled motel in Mildura, with a butterfly-shaped pool and a tropical, Palm Springs vibe. Echuca Holiday Homes has a range of high-end accommodation options, both on the riverfront and in town.

Playing there

BruceMunro’s Trail of Lights in Mildura — Bruce Munro’s Trail of Lights in Mildura. (Image: Imogen Eveson)

Artist Bruce Munro’s Trail of Lights installation, comprising more than 12,000 illuminated ‘fireflies’, is currently lighting up Mildura’s Lock Island in the middle of the Murray. Murray Art Museum Albury (MAMA) is a hub for contemporary art, with a rotating roster of exhibitions, and is a major outlet for young and First Nations artists.

Eating there

Mildura’s diverse demographic means it’s a fantastic place to eat. Andy’s Kitchen is a local favourite, serving up delicious pan-Asian dishes and creative cocktails in a Balinese-style garden setting. Call in to Spoons Riverside in Swan Hill to enjoy locally sourced, seasonal produce in a tranquil setting overlooking the river.

Can you say these 10 tongue-twister Australian place names?