US expat loses it over Australian beaches squeaky sand sound

A US woman living in Australia has been left baffled by an “insane” noise she heard while on a beach on the Gold Coast.

Tate Duane, from California, who goes by the TikTok handle “twaynne” has racked up more than 12.5 million views on her clips mainly about her experiences Down Under.

In one of her recent clips, she records herself walking on hot sand at a beach on the Gold Coast.

“This is literally insane, I’ve never heard squeaky sand before,” she says, before asking followers, “How and why does the sand squeak in the Gold Coast.”

Aussies quickly weighed in with one saying: “It just means it’s all sand and nothing else.”

“Usually happens more when it’s hot,” another wrote, while a third added: “It happens a lot on Australian beaches.”

According to Science ABC, the squeaking sound of sand is caused by friction between uniformly sized sand particles.

“The frictional energy due to this shearing makes the sand grains vibrate,” it states on the site.

“These vibrating sand grains transfer their energy to the air pockets between them, thus making the air vibrate When these vibrations finally reach our ear, we hear them as a squeak, a whistle or a yelp.”

In fact, the pearly white beach in Victoria earned the nickname “The Squeaky Beach” due to the high-pitched shrill that it produces.

“The famous white sand of Squeaky Beach is so named because of the noise it makes when you stroll along it,” Parks Victoria explains on its site.

“The fine, rounded grains of quartz sand compress under your feet, creating a high-pitched squeak.”

Tate then shared another clip from a beach raving about how good-looking locals are.

“Can someone please explain to me how every single person in Queensland is so stunningly beautiful,” she said.

“I’m talking perfect skin, perfect hair. Your local barista looks like they should be on the cover of Vogue. What is going on?”

The expat regularly shares videos about her experiences in Australia – including the things that have shocked her since moving Down Under.

Like many other expats, our road rules and the way we speak have baffled her the most.

“I have lived abroad before, I have driven on the wrong side of the road, but for some reason here watching people drive stresses me out,” she joked.

She said left turns give her the most anxiety and she struggles with rules about not being allowed to turn right “on red”.

Another culture shock is how Aussies love to shorten their words.

“Every word is shortened, even if it doesn’t need to be shortened,” she said.

“A lady came in the other day and ordered two caps, and I thought she said two cups so I handed her two cups, but she wanted two cappuccinos.”

One word she finds extremely funny is “keen”, saying it’s never used in the US.

“I think it is so funny. Like when people text ‘KEEEEEN’ when hey are so excited for something,” she said.