What are other natural places named for a food or drink, and how did those names come to be?
The Aussie towns named after food
Bacon and Eggs Bay, TAS
Located in the south of Tasmania, the bay has just 244 people. It’s about half an hour from Hobart, and was named after a governor’s wife, who once served eggs and bacon there.
Oyster Bay, NSW
My father sometimes sailed his Crown to Oyster Bay. Known for its big, juicy oysters, Oyster Bay is a suburb in southern Sydney. I grew up in Whale Beach, about 80 k’s north.
Lamington National Park, QLD
Lamingtons are a famous Australian type of cake made from layers of vanilla sponge alternating with a rich chocolate paste, coated in the paste and thickly dusted with grated coconut. However, the Lamington Plateau was not named after the cake.The Plateau of the McPherson Range on the Queensland/New South Wales border, not too far from where I live. It has a subtropical climate and contains some of Australia’s most interesting and rare flora and fauna.
At the moment, it’s in the midst of an uncontrollable bushfire caused by the continuing drought.
The park was named after Governor of Queensland Lord Lamington in 1915.
Orange, NSW
Located in the central west region of New South Wales, Orange wasn’t named after the citrus fruit, but after Prince William of Orange.
However, the region is known for producing some of Australia’s best apples, pears, and stone fruits.
Berri, SA
The name “Berri” derives from the local Aboriginal tribe, Meri, meaning “a wide bend around the river”. You’ll find Berri in South Australia’s Riverland region, where it’s home to Berri Juice Company. It is an exceptional fruit growing region thanks to irrigation from the usually mighty Murray river. Unfortunately, the current drought, the most severe on record, has run water levels critically low and this year’s crops will be small and poor.
Banana, QLD
Nope, it wasn’t named after the state fruit – rather, the quaint rural town of Banana found in Central Queensland was named in the 1860s after a bullock named Banana, who was used by local stockmen to help them when herding wild cattle into yards. It is not the home of the Big Banana, which is just plain confusing.
Scone, NSW
Located in the Upper Hunter Shire of the Hunter Region of NSW, Scone is known as the horse capital of Australia. Many thousands of racing Thoroughbreds, trotters, Quarterhorses, Australian Stockhorses and Arabians are bred there.
The town is full of dozens of exceptional scone shops run by the Country Women’s Association of Australia. However, it wasn’t named for the food. It was named after the place of birth of one of the Scotts who first settled there.
Figtree, NSW
The inner west suburb of Figtree sits southeast of Woollongong, NSW. Figtree got its name simply from the town’s giant fig tree. The tree does produce an abundance of figs, but most of them get eaten by fruitbats.