# Think of a city in Australia (that isn't Sydney) **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 11, 2015, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/think-of-a-city-in-australia-that-isnt-sydney/734223 "2015-10-11T00:12:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mr.Kobayashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4af34b/32.png) [@Mr.Kobayashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Kobayashi)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2015, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/think-of-a-city-in-australia-that-isnt-sydney/734223/1 "2015-10-11T00:12:52Z")
Some important statistical research - if you were asked to think of a city in Australia that \*isn’t \*Sydney, what do you think of first? Because I’m trapped in the '40s I thought of Darwin since it was bombed by the Japanese. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2015, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/think-of-a-city-in-australia-that-isnt-sydney/734223/2 "2015-10-11T00:15:58Z")
Melbourne. ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2015, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/think-of-a-city-in-australia-that-isnt-sydney/734223/3 "2015-10-11T00:20:55Z")
Obviously the capital, Canberra. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2015, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/think-of-a-city-in-australia-that-isnt-sydney/734223/4 "2015-10-11T00:22:05Z")
Canberra ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2015, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/think-of-a-city-in-australia-that-isnt-sydney/734223/5 "2015-10-11T00:23:17Z")
A Town Like Alice. ---
**Author:** ![jabiru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@jabiru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jabiru)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2015, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/think-of-a-city-in-australia-that-isnt-sydney/734223/6 "2015-10-11T00:34:21Z")
Melbourne. Well, you did say ‘city’, not biggish town. ---
**Author:** ![Sarabellum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarabellum/32/3492_2.png) [@Sarabellum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarabellum)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2015, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/think-of-a-city-in-australia-that-isnt-sydney/734223/7 "2015-10-11T00:37:58Z")
Hobart, 'cause I was reading [A Long Way Home](http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18111281-a-long-way-home) by Saroo Brierley recently. Good book. ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2015, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/think-of-a-city-in-australia-that-isnt-sydney/734223/8 "2015-10-11T00:45:32Z")
Canberra Second was Alice Springs ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2015, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/think-of-a-city-in-australia-that-isnt-sydney/734223/9 "2015-10-11T00:56:31Z")
Darwin. Used to watch seaQuest DSV back in the day. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2015, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/think-of-a-city-in-australia-that-isnt-sydney/734223/10 "2015-10-11T00:59:38Z")
Perth. Don’t know why. I think I’ve heard more about Melbourne. ---
**Author:** ![Desert\_Nomad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desert_nomad/32/177_2.png) [@Desert\_Nomad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Desert_Nomad)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2015, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/think-of-a-city-in-australia-that-isnt-sydney/734223/11 "2015-10-11T01:12:24Z")
I thought of Alice Springs ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2015, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/think-of-a-city-in-australia-that-isnt-sydney/734223/12 "2015-10-11T01:14:45Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Perth. Don’t know why. I think I’ve heard more about Melbourne. Me too. No idea why. It’s just the first one that popped into my head. ---
**Author:** ![lazybratsche](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ba8739/32.png) [@lazybratsche](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lazybratsche)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2015, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/think-of-a-city-in-australia-that-isnt-sydney/734223/13 "2015-10-11T01:17:16Z")
Brisbane, for no articulable reason. ---
**Author:** ![PaulParkhead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@PaulParkhead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PaulParkhead)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2015, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/think-of-a-city-in-australia-that-isnt-sydney/734223/14 "2015-10-11T01:18:33Z")
Melbourne. It’s the only Australian city I’ve been to, so presumably that’s why I think of it first. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2015, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/think-of-a-city-in-australia-that-isnt-sydney/734223/15 "2015-10-11T01:20:04Z")
Brisbane for no reason either. ---
**Author:** ![LH75](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lh75/32/4438_2.png) [@LH75](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LH75)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2015, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/think-of-a-city-in-australia-that-isnt-sydney/734223/16 "2015-10-11T01:22:04Z")
I have friends in Adalaide ---
**Author:** ![WF\_Tomba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d9b06d/32.png) [@WF\_Tomba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WF_Tomba)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2015, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/think-of-a-city-in-australia-that-isnt-sydney/734223/17 "2015-10-11T01:29:38Z")
Perth, although I’m not even sure where it is. ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2015, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/think-of-a-city-in-australia-that-isnt-sydney/734223/18 "2015-10-11T01:30:09Z")
Melbourne because we have a Doper here with that as his location. ---
**Author:** ![WF\_Tomba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d9b06d/32.png) [@WF\_Tomba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WF_Tomba)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2015, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/think-of-a-city-in-australia-that-isnt-sydney/734223/19 "2015-10-11T01:33:19Z")
I think _Perth_ may be especially easy to recall because it’s just one syllable. ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2015, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/think-of-a-city-in-australia-that-isnt-sydney/734223/20 "2015-10-11T01:37:07Z")
Brisbane. Probably because I was thinking the other day about the old board game “Pirate and Traveler,” the board of which had a map of the world with various important and not-so-important cities on it. (Including Goodthaab, Greenland, which was “Pirate’s Goal,” which we always pronounced, unironically, as if it were spelled “ghoul”–same with the safe spot in the game of tag.) Sydney was I think the main “destination city” in the game where Australia was concerned. (Could be wrong.) But Brisbane, along with Perth and Albany, was also on the board, and I thought of Brisbane first. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/think-of-a-city-in-australia-that-isnt-sydney/734223.md?page=2)