Victorian place names that just don’t seem to match

SOME Victorian place names make perfect sense, but a few have left us scratching our heads for years. Did we ever have Twelve Apostles? Are there really 1000 Steps at the Dandenongs? How long is the Ninety Mile Beach?

SOME place names make perfect sense, but a few have left us scratching our heads for generations.

Did we ever have Twelve Apostles? Where are the Moonee Ponds that Dame Edna brought to international fame?

We’ve got the answers about Victoria’s most misleading place names.

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South Morang

WE all know South Morang, on Melbourne’s northern outskirts, but where is Morang?

It doesn’t really exist anymore.

The name Morang originally described the wider area around South Morang, or may have referred to the area now known as Mernda, to the north, but has faded into obscurity.

South Morang station which is not south of Morang.

North Melbourne

It is mostly west of Melbourne’s CBD. If you count the old GPO as the centre of Melbourne (it’s right at the heart of the Hoddle Grid after all), most of North Melbourne is clearly west of the GPO, although it is north of the grid’s western half.

That’s why the station is set to undergo a name change to West Melbourne, while a new station that’s actually in North Melbourne will take over the name.

Western Port

Western Port (its official name does not include the word “bay”) is southeast of Melbourne, so why is it so called?

It was named by explorer George Bass, who in 1797 sailed a whaleboat along what is now Victoria’s coast. Rough weather prevented him from getting any further west, and it was the westernmost inlet he found beyond what was then the known coast.

Airport West

Airport West is confusing to some. It’s south of Melbourne Airport, not west, but those who wrestle with that notion forget that until 1970, Essendon Airport was Melbourne’s main airport. Airport West makes more sense in that context.

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Ninety Mile Beach

The Ninety Mile Beach, which runs along the Gippsland coast from near Port Albert all the way to Lakes Entrance, sounds pretty cut and dried, right? Wrong. It’s actually 94 miles (151km) long.

The Ninety Mile Beach is not quite what it claims to be.

Twelve Apostles

And then there’s the Twelve Apostles over on the west coast. In the period since European settlement began, only nine apostles have been visible, and nine became eight in 2005, when a 50m stack closest to the viewing platform at the site collapsed into the sea.

1000 Steps

Fitness fanatics have been overstating their physical achievements for years if they climb The 1000 Steps in the Dandenongs. There are only 776.

It’s not even close to 1000.

Reservoir

Meanwhile, Reservoir sells itself short. It should be Reservoirs. Three small water reservoirs, at the top of the hill in High Street, give the suburb its name.

One Tree Hills

There seems to be a One Tree Hill on every corner in Victoria.

There’s one in the Dandenongs, one in the hills of the Nillumbik Shire and one near Bendigo, to name three.

And I’ll bet your bottom dollar that every one of them has more than a single sapling on it.

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Christmas Hills

This spot between Eltham and Yarra Glen sounds like a gaily decorated celebration of the festive season, but it’s anything but.

An emancipated convict, David Christmas, became lost while working as a shepherd in the area’s thick stringybark forest.

Searchers found Christmas on a hill after several days, and named the rise (and later the district) after him.

Lake Mountain

Lake Mountain has no lake, but it is named after George Lake, who surveyed the region.

No Lake but plenty of snow at Lake Mountain.

Diamond Creek

It has no diamonds, although the area did have some gold. It was named after Diamond the bullock, who was so beloved they named the creek after him when he drowned in it. There’s a touch of the Harold Holt Swimming Centre in that name.

Bayswater

It has neither a bay nor much water, unless you count the Dandenong Creek, which flows to its north.

It was named after publisher J.J. Miller’s property, which he named after his English birthplace.

Port Phillip

Port Phillip Bay from above.

Like Western Port, it is not officially named Port Phillip Bay.

The terms “Port Phillip Bay” and “Western Port Bay” are commonly used but aren’t the official names for the two bodies of water.

Sunshine

The name Sunshine does not refer to the weather or the disposition of the locals. It started as a factory town to house workers at the Sunshine Harvester factory.

Moonee Ponds

And what of Dame Edna Everage’s beloved Moonee Ponds? There were some ponds along the Moonee Ponds Creek, but they are long gone and were down near where the creek meets the Yarra River, so nowhere near the Moonee Ponds township. It’s thought the town was first named Moonee Moonee Ponds after an Aboriginal policeman who was killed in 1845.

Caroline Springs

Nope it doesn’t have any springs, but it does have the Kororoit Creek flowing through it and a series of artificial lakes.

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Point Cook

It was originally Point Cooke, named after John Cooke, a mate aboard the Rattlesnake, which under Captain William Hobson surveyed areas of Port Phillip in 1836. The “e” was soon dropped from both the point and the area around it, but the Cooke name was restored to the point itself in 2002 and applied to the marine national park around it.

Lilydale

The suburb of Lilydale is in Melbourne’s outer east but the Lillydale Lake and the old Shire of Lillydale are spelled differently.

Warrigal Rd

Whatever you do, don’t stick to Warrigal Rd if you want to go to Warragul.

One does not connect the other, and each word means different things in the Bunurong language.

Warrigal may refer to a spinach-like native plant, while Warragul may mean wild dog or any human or animal considered to be wild.

@JDwritesalot