Dwellingup

it means "place of nearby water" in Aboriginal. and it's a misnomer. it's 1hr20 south east of perth, which in WA, is by no means close to a large body of water. but it is quite beautiful. and we just happened to be on (small) water.

john and i had the opportunity to stay with friends just outside of dwellingup (pop. 550). we drove down after work on saturday. the drive anywhere outside of perth is painful at

 best. roads are poor, but highly travelled and drivers in WA have no under

standing of "road rules". a drive that should take 45 mins by most standards takes considerably longer. thankfully, we had some tunes (for most of the ride, until we lost the airways) and some snacks, so we managed just fine!

we pulled up to john's friend's place (parent's place, more accurately): it was breathtaking. the property is approx. 25 acres of bush. there is a man-made lake (which they keep referring to as a dam, but i think dam's have rivers flowing into them). the lake was a milky-blue because of the clay and lime in the soil. it looked quite peculiar at first, but was extremely refreshing when we lazed aroun

d on floats with drinks in hand. there are some fish in the lake, brought there by john's friend. and also some marron (marsupial crayfish), which found their way in on their own. some people attempted to catch them. i watched. on my float. drink in hand...

the house itself is an engineering feat which amazes every person who enters. it's a beautiful chalet-style house, timber floors, plenty of windows, decks, modern kitchen, etc. what makes it unique is that it was built on the base of a crane. and it rotates. 360 degrees. you can turn the house to catch or eliminate sun or to allow the breeze to flow through. or you can turn it just because it's dang cool and you want to impress your friends!

john and i camped out on the property for lack of rooms. some 'roos were making noise near our tent in the morning. i went for a run around before everyone else woke. it was a blissful morning but more importantly, i saw 'roos on the trail! a few times! i was so excited, you have no idea. they just never stop being funny. 

unfortunately, we couldn't stay long that morning as my work christmas party was taking place in perth around midday. we left dwellingup but not before stopping to pick some raspberries! i didn't know they actually grew in WA. we didn't have time to pick many, but they were delicious!

we'll head down to dwellingup again. there are a lot of hikes and trails that seem interesting. well that, and floating around a milky-blue lake, drinks in hand. 

xo