Downunder Perplexion

These four pictures of parts of little towns in Australia are taken directly from Google Earth, and have not been altered at all. They should present a puzzlement to modestly well-informed North American viewers of above-average perceptiveness.

So, what’s puzzling about these images? The first person to get it right will win a box of brand-new, unused semicolons from Brian Fies, or, if the winner is Brian Fies, a box of dots. Real elevated dots, not those newfangled, deflated, tired, lying-on-the-line ones.

(Click on the images to see a larger version... if you need to, wimp!)

Broken Hill, New South Wales, Argent (upper right to lower left) and Oxide (perpendicular thereto) Streets.


Forbes, New South Wales, Templar (upper left to lower right) and Lachlan (perpendicular) Streets, with a roundabout intersection.

Kalgoorlie, Western Australia, Hannan (left) and Egan (right) Streets.

Parkes, New South Wales, Highway 39 (left) and Currajong Street. I first recognized the oddity that this quiz refers to at about the location of the light-blue “39” shield in this image in April of 1986, when I passed through Parkes on a little pilgrimage.

Good luck!