They laugh at me when I pronounce place names. A is sometimes pronounced like an English O, other times as and English E. An example would be Wagga Wagga pronounced as Wogga Wogga, or Alan pronounced like Ellen. This last once confused the hell out of me at the Heide Museum of Modern Art when a painter was referred to as Ellen as earlier the guide had expressly said that it was a male. During the same tour another painter was referred to as Liz when his name was Les – so E is pronounced as I. Apparently that’s how you’re supposed to tell the difference between Kiwis and Aussies. Six is sex (NZ) and sex is six (Oz). U can be pronounced like an English A – Tuross Head becomes Tarass Head.
The Tim Tams are good though – particularly the coffee one!
Anna's Travels 