I love Australian names: Great Sandy Desert, the Sunshine Coast…
No one could ever wonder what they are, what they mean. There’s no etymology, no history to decode.
The Sunshine Coast was formerly known as the Near North Coast and was renamed in the 1950s and 60s in an attempt to promote tourism. Cos who wouldn’t wanna visit somewhere called the Sunshine Coast?
Actually many of these names are similar to Aboriginal naming systems. These associated places with aspects of the environment like shade, sand, local animals.
