The Ecphorizer

A Note From a Resident of Megalong Valley

Tod Wicks

Issue 09 (April 2007)

I subscribe to various "lists" covering a variety of interests through the Internet.  In one of these I noticed that another poster noted that she lived in Megalong Valley, New South Wales, Australia.  I wrote her the following note off-list:

Megalong Valley is quite a small valley as valleys go...

italic;">My question is this:  Exactly how long is a mega-long valley?  A million times longer than a regular long valley?  Sorry if you don't appreciate this; just the thought of a megalong valley tickled my funnybone.

Erica M. kindly responded with the following:
Relax, I've got a sense of humour . You know, I lived here for years before some American on an email list asked a similar question to yours, and I realised I'd never seen the funny side of the name. One is just so used to hearing funny names in Australia, such as Wooloomooloo, Parramatta (near Sydney), Wagga Wagga, Bong Bong (used to live there), Turramurra, Wirragula, Bullaburra (used to live there), Maroochydore, Bundanoon, Yacka, Goondoowindi, Yackandanda, Ulladulla to give but a small sample, all Anglo-corruptions of Aboriginal words/names; Megalong is relatively mild by Australian standards).

Canada seems to have a similar 'problem'; my family is Canadian, and when I lived there we lived next to Lake Katchewanooka, and our local indian tribe was the 'Kickapoo' - had me in hysterics as a nine-year-old.

Incidentally,  Megalong Valley is quite a small valley as valleys go... doesn't deserve its name... but in the local Aboriginal tongue 'Megalong' apparently meant 'valley under the cliff', which is certainly appropriate. 

More Articles by Tod Wicks

---

Contributor Profile