Pronouncing Australian Towns Trivia Quiz

Answer: Mell - b'n

The emphasis is placed on the first syllable. Melbourne is the capital city of the state of Victoria. It's located on the Yarra River and the large bay of Port Phillip and by 2009 had a population of 4,000,000 people. This large and gracious city with its many beautifully designed old buildings and parks has always had rather more of a cultural image than the rowdier, less well designed and definitely more common-place Sydney, and there's always been somewhat of a rivalry between these two main capitals of Australia.

Albury-Wodonga (once just usually referred to as Albury) are twin cities merged into one on the Murray River and act as a border, more or less, between the two state capitals of Melbourne in Victoria and Sydney in NSW. Once when the famous Australian soprano Nellie Melba (1861-1931) was on a return home to this country from her many operatic performances overseas, a reporter asked her at a public meeting which of the two capitals she most preferred. Ms Melba diplomatically answered in her cultivated and acquired upper class accent that "Whenever Ah am home in Ostrayliah, ah keep one foot firmly plarnted in Melbourne and one foot plarnted in Sydney." At the image of the stately - and portly - Nellie Melba in such an unladylike position, a wag in the audience shouted out, "Then Gawd 'elp the poor buggers in Albury!"

Answer: Bris - b'n

Same thing - with a slight stress placed on the first syllable. Brisbane, located on the Brisbane River (surprise, surprise) is the capital city of Queensland. It began as a penal settlement in 1824 but from 1842, free settlers were allowed to enter into the area.

Originally Queensland was governed by New South Wales and part of that colony, but in 1859, when it became a separate colony and before Federation in 1901, Brisbane was made its capital city. Its a gracious, tree-lined city, filled with many beautiful heritage and colonial buildings. Large and cool verandahs can be found on many of its older houses which were basically all built above the ground because of the city's tendency to flood in rainy seasons, as alas it did badly in 1974 and again in 2011, where vast areas of the city went under water. I was in the city in the first flood and woke up in the middle of the night to see all the furniture bobbing around merrily in a foot of water.

In spite of that little hiccup, and having developed a ferocious dog-paddle since, I truly love this beautiful, really beautiful old city.

Answer: Hoe - bart

The syllables are pretty well sounded quickly together for this town. Hobart is the capital city of Australia's Tasmanian state. It began as a penal colony in 1803 and is actually the second oldest capital city of our country. Hobart is located on the Derwent River and a large deepwater port which was once the centre of a whaling and sealing industry, ugh. Times were different back then however, so it's all very well to ugh away sanctimoniously from the safety of historical perspective. Surprisingly, in spite of being located so far south, Hobart's climate is fine and mild. Today its still a busy seaport, home to many of the Antarctic's vessels and also to many cruise ships. Those chocoholics among quizplayers will be interested to learn that Hobart is home to the Cadbury factory which makes most of the chocolate in the southern hemisphere. Several of my Team members (The Scrambled Eggheads) have this addiction, so I expect to see them relocating to the fair city of Hobart any day now.

Answer: Wog - guh Wog - guh

Place the stress a little bit on the first syllable of each work for this town - and say them both quickly, as in "Wogguh Wogguh" not each one distinctly as in "Wog - guh Wog - guh". Wagga Wagga is built on both sides of the Murrumbidgee River and has a population of almost fifty thousand. Because it is New South Wales' largest inland city, it acts almost as the hub of a wheel where major highways pass though on their way to the capital cities of Sydney and Melbourne.

Its residents, and indeed most Australians, generally refer to the town simply as Wagga.

It was once considered as the potential capital of the Australian nation. Thank goodness it didn't succeed because it's miles out in the bush in the middle of nowhere - but what am I saying? So is Canberra.

Answer: Add - ul - Ay - d

Place a little stress on the first and third syllable and then run the entire word together quickly. Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and is located near the Torrens River. Its nickname is "The City of Churches" and many beautiful church spires can be seen emerging religiously from the mass of other buildings in this old town.

At the close of 2010, its population was just under 1.3 million people. Adelaide was a planned capital, and was founded in 1836, and the only capital city in Australia not to take convicts, but only for free settlers instead. Perhaps that's why they have so many churches - with no sinful convicts to burn them down.

Then again it could be that all the area around Adelaide attracted a vast number of early German Protestant settlers who developed the wine making industries there. Today Adelaide is noted for its many festivals of food, wine and sporting, its beaches, and its large manufacturing base.

Answer: Gun - du - windy

Say all syllables quickly but place a small emphasis on the first and third one for this lovely little inland town. The first syllable can either be pronounced Gun with the "U" sound as in gun or in book. Perhaps that really depends on whether you're a hunter or a scholar. Goondiwindi is located on the MacIntyre River in Queensland, but right on the border between that state and New South Wales.

It's very prone to flooding, and, right on cue, as I write this quiz, is currently under water in the 2011 floods which are basically drowning all of the east coast of our land. Before the country became one nation in 1901 (up until then, it was a series of separate colonies) Goondiwindi served as one of the very few border crossing towns between NSW and Qld and its Customs House, used for the bureaucratic business of border crossings back then, is now a museum in the town.

Answer: Goo - noo Goo - noo or Gunny Goo - noo

The stress is placed on the Noo each time rather than on the Goo. Lol, this quiz is starting to make me laugh. Goonoo Goonoo is a little place in inland New South Wales. I'm sure it's a very nice little place too, but to be truthful, have never been there. Nor do I find any overwhelming desire to do so unless its out of a mild curiosity to find out whether the residents of the area refer to themselves as Goonies or Goons.

Answer: Coona - ba - ruh - bran

It's a short "a" with the "ba" and the entire word is all run together and said quickly. Many residents of this little town of less than 3,000 people generally refer to their town as "Bloody Coonabarabran". My ex-mother-in-law comes from there, so I generally agree with its nickname.

It's actually a pretty little place though, located in northern New South Wales about half way between Melbourne and Brisbane (also out in the sticks in other words) and it's not far from the Warrumbungle National Park, where if you go up a long, spooky drive through the hills, you'll find the largest optical telescope in Australia, which is a part of a series of telescopes operated there by the Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics of the Australian National University.

It really is eerie driving through the densely wooded scrub area of those ranges, round and round the hills with no other buildings or signs of human habitation anywhere, until suddenly, there before your bulging eyeballs, this huge telescope sticking out, alone and starkly white on a lonely hillside. I couldn't get back to civilisation quickly enough.

Answer: In - druh - pilly

Each part of the word is usually said quickly and slurred together to give you the condensed version of the name. Indooroopilly is one of the suburbs that went completely under in the huge Australian floods of 1974 and 2011. It's a really beautiful suburb of Brisbane, situated right along the banks of the Brisbane River, and lined with stunningly beautiful trees that droop their long graceful branches into the waters. Alas, now it's basically more or less a suburb for the posh and well-to-do because the house prices there are astronomical.

It's the price you pay for beauty I guess.

Answer: Muh - wool - um - bar

The stress falls on the second syllable when pronouncing the name of this town, and as before, all syllables are said quickly with no other stresses on any part of the word. Murwillumbah is a lovely little town of less than ten thousand people and is located in far eastern New South Wales, nestled in the foothills of the McPherson Range, along the banks of the Tweed River.

The river is prone to flooding as well, so look out in rainy seasons if you go there. The trees shading almost every part of this pretty little town are a lovely sight to behold when they're all in bloom. For those who hate trees however, they're more a blooming nuisance. Locals tend to refer to their town as "Murbah."