Australia is home to some of the world’s deadliest, weirdest, and cutest of creatures, yet it has some unusual monsters, none greater than the legendary Billabong Bunyip.
The Billabong Bunyip
Forget man-eating crocodiles lurking beneath the waters in the Northern Territory, they’re kittens compared to the might of the ferocious Billabong Bunyip.
A lurker, long before lurking was a thing on social media, the Billabong Bunyip watches its prey from the water. It then leaps out to steal people, while releasing a terrifying skin-crawling shriek of victory before beginning its feast of the flesh.
Oh yeah, it’s the stuff of nightmares.
What is a Billabong Bunyip?
The Billabong Bunyip is a freakishly scary monster that inhabits outback creeks, rivers, waterholes, swamps and billabongs. It loves billabongs, not the clothing brand, I’m talking about the watery billabongs (a stagnant pool of water).
How does the Billabong Bunyip measure up to other Aussie monsters?
This water-loving, man-eating monster does stand tall among other legendary Aussie monsters like the deadly drop bear.
It’s bigger than the Yowie. Oh, for the record, the Yowie (not the chocolate many of us Aussie kids loved) is ten times scarier than the Yeti, where Big Foot can just take a step back before muscling in with these bad boys!
“…Big Foot can just take a step back before muscling in with these bad boys!”
Even against the blood-sucking vampiric creature—the Yara-ma-yha-who—who is a total freak of nature, the Billabong Bunyip still stands taller.
But not all Australian monsters are mean. We do have the friendly yols and the mermaid-like Yawk Yawks that are loads of fun.
But this is all about the big bad-ass Billabong Bunyip…
How to pronounce Bunyip
Bun (as in cake bun) Yip (as in yep but with an i—yip-yip-yip!)
Bun+yip!
Got it.
Knew you could do it.
Where does the Bunyip come from?
Although the aboriginal Dreamtime stories of the bunyip vary from region to region, we learn it likes to hunt at night. This bad boy Bunyip is also equipped with supernatural powers to move water and hypnotise its victims, that’s if you get past the eardrum-shattering-sonic-scream, where it will then hug you to death! Talk about a death grip, huh?
According to one of the local Dreamtime legends, the bunyip is a water spirit who is the protector of the waterways to stop over-fishing areas. It’s also a scary warning story for children to never get too close to the water. So really, this terrifying foe may be a friend underneath its scary shell. Just saying…
Is the Bunyip real?
Really? You had to ask?
Well… Historians claim early bunyips were lost elephant seals, or leopard seals, that rode upstream on high tides.
Yet, some early palaeontologists and geologists claim the earliest bunyip sightings and discovered bones were of the prehistoric diprotodon. As a relative to the wombat and koala, it’s a very large version of Australia’s scariest creature today – the drop bear!
Back in 1846, there was a tremendous fuss made over a skull claiming to be in fact a Bunyip’s skull. It was the major attraction in the Australian museum for ages…
Until modern day myth-busters ruined their party to prove it was a deformed (tampered) horse’s head.
But to the aboriginal population, the bunyip is a huge part of their cultural history, their stories, and their art.
What does Bunyip name mean?
The Australian Aboriginal’s say Bunyip means the “devil… evil spirit… a terrifying water spirit…”
They also wrote it as bahnyip back in 1812 in the Sydney Gazette
It also has other names from the many aboriginal languages where you have over 800 dialects to choose from.
What does a bunyip look like?
Big. Scary. Ugly.
Did I mention scary?
Oh, you want details, huh…
Again, this depends on where you are and which Aboriginal group you ask, as they all have their own interpretations.
But they all agree—the bunyip is a deadly creature.
In 1812, they described it as “… a large black animal like a seal, with a terrible voice which creates terror…”
They considered it a supernatural creature, where I’m guessing it’s a slippery shapeshifter because here’s how other people describe the bunyip:
It has the body of a hippo, ox, or a water buffalo.
But then some claim the bunyip has the body of a freshwater dugong or manatee (a sea cow) along with a nasty set of sabre-tooth tiger tusks. Are you picturing a walrus too?
Then there’s the terrifying shaggy seal-dog that’s over 15 feet long with its small head and long neck. This is the stuff of nightmares.
The Bunyip also has the legs to walk like a man to steal its prize, while being able to swim anywhere with its fins.
Oh, and it has claws too!
You can see now why I mentioned shapeshifter earlier.
What does a Billabong Bunyip smell like?
Mud.
It has a distinct musky muddy odour.
Think of dirty brackish water lying on the surface of the salty mangrove’s mud that sits under a full sun on a low tide. Yeah, it’s enough to make your eyes water and sinuses scream for fresh air.
You’ll probably smell it before you see it.
Bunyip Superstition
Coming face to face with a bunyip can be bad luck–that’s if you survive, which I’d call good luck.
But a surprising superstition for the bunyip is the wrath of bad luck you’ll incur if you dared kill this legendary monster!
OTHER USES FOR THE WORD BUNYIP:
As the world spins, the bunyip word has changed from one that used to terrify the indigenous population, to become names of places and more…
Local lingo—Bunyip in Aussie slang
From the 1850s, they used the word bunyip when referring to a fake, an impostor, a con artist, and a humbugging criminal.
Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating used the term Bunyip in 1990 when talking about the leader of the opposition party. That’s politics for you…
Bunyip Places
Bunyip is a town in Gippsland, Victoria.
Bunyip River is nearby.
So too is the Bunyip State Park.
The Murray Bridge Bunyip is a popular children’s attraction.
The bunyip bird
The Bunyip Bird is the nickname for the endangered swamp loving Australasian bittern. During the breeding season, this male bird call is like a low-pitched boom, mimicking the sound of the bunyip.
Bunyip in stories:
The Bunyip is famous in modern children’s stories, such as the friendly, prank-playing bunyip in the Silver Brumby, and The Bunyip of Berkeley’s Creek.
There is the 1899 classic of a shy and gentle bunyip in the Dot and Kangaroo. The movie even has a Bunyip Song.
Bertie the Bunyip was a puppet in a US television show that ran from1954-1966.
Alexander Bunyip’s Billabong, an Australian children’s television series that ran from 1978-1988.
Red Billabong, is a D-grade horror movie about two brothers in the outback who unleashes this legendary supernatural creature.
Then there’s the Titanus Bunyip, who makes a fitting appearance in the movie, Godzilla King of the Monsters. Just the trailer is so worth watching! (above)
Meet the Legendary NT Billabong Bunyip…
In the Northern Territory’s remote outback region of Elsie Creek, the story of the Billabong Bunyip has flourished to become a legendary myth in this Rural Romance Series.
In CAKED IN DUST, it’s a fond childhood memory of Lucy’s, sitting around the campfire under the outback stars where her father shares the story of the Billabong Bunyip.
In XMAS DUST, it’s a moment of terror as the scary childhood stories of the Billabong Bunyip haunt the heroine, Monet, while facing her greatest challenge.
And in ROLLED IN DUST, we unearth the legend of the Billabong Bunyip, where you can find your copy at your favourite online bookstore today.
Real or imaginary, the story of the Billabong Bunyip had to come from somewhere, right? I just hope this iconic Australian legend lives on forever…
**All still images relating to this post’s topic are via CANVA.com
Do check it out for all your graphic and social media needs.
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