I Can Hear A Ring Tail Possum

Well here is my first blog for 2007 and a bit of a mixed bag at that. It has been an extremely busy period. Doing the Christmas bit with a visit to Gries in Saarland. Seeing in the New Year with the ubiquitous champagne and fireworks. Then the dismal flood of work that hits every year in my business throughout January and February as people book their skiing holidays and try to escape the northern Winter by journeying to sunnier climes. Not enough time in a day to Blog that is for sure. So better late than never with a resolve to be more regular in my postings. Bit of a quiet spell today and so here it is.

I was sent a fabulous article the other day which relates to the way in which Australians adopted Aboriginal words for many of the places they named. I have heard a few before but this example was an exceptional unearthing of the early settlers choices.

Would you pay 83 million dollars to live in Weed Lagoon? How about 8.7 million for a block of land in Damn Bandicoot? Or half a million in Woman’s Breast?

No? Well it may be too late! Aboriginal names for popular Melbourne suburbs give fresh insight into land we are all paying big bucks for.

Don’t fancy Weed Lagoon? Well how about its translation Turrack. Yes, Toorak – weed in lagoon or swamp with rushes.

Damn Bandicoot is now Warrandyte and Woman’s Breasts brings new meaning to a weekend escape to Nagambie.

Paul Paton, program manager at the Victorian Aboriginal Corporation for Languages, said most of Melbourne’s place names came from settlers simply plucking unrelated names out of the Kulin language.

This may explain Moorabin, aka Mother’s Milk, and Dandenong, once known as Frostbitten Foot. Maribyrnong residents have the long address of,” I can hear a ringtail possum”.

There are moves a foot to try and get Melbourne’s Aboriginal languages introduced into the education system.
“Excerpts taken from an article by Georgie Pilcher of the Melbourne Age”