Dwellingup is an Aboriginal name said to mean "place of nearby water".

The charming country town of Dwellingup is located about an hour and a half's drive south of Perth, WA. Set among pristine jarrah forest and water catchment areas, Dwellingup offers nature at its best. We stopped by one of the watering holes last Sunday when it was really hot! The water was clear and cool (but not freezing) and there were lots of families enjoying themselves. You can also camp, bike ride and hike in the area.

For more information please contact Dwellingup History and Visitor Information Centre:

PO Box 21 DWELLINGUP WA 6213

Telephone: 08 9538 1108

Fascimile: 08 9538 1332

Email: dhvic@murray.wa.gov.au

Venice Beach

Me & Mickey

Muscle Gym

Bike riding (illegally) on the Santa Monica pier

Los Angeles? That's just a big parking lot where you buy a hamburger for the trip to San Francisco." John Lennon

I recently returned from 10 days in LA. I wasn't sure if I would like it but I most certainly did.

The mix of grunge and glamour reminded me of Kings Cross in Sydney (but with actual celebrities). Everything is something.... your local cafe turns out to be where they film Entourage, the house on the corner is Batman's lair, the post office is the police centre from Beverly Hills Cops. That bit of sidewalk is where River died, that door is where Britney came out of knickerless.... and so it goes. You will learn these things if you take one of the hollywood homes tours!!

Here's my tips if you're visiting LA:

Stay: The Standard Hotel. But make sure you stay in the Hollywood one on Sunset Blvd rather then the Downtown LA one... that aggesss away from everything! It's well priced, immaculate and hip (Cameron Diaz and Leo DiCaprio own it) And the staff will bend over backwards to help you.

www.standardhotels.com

Eat: The Chateau Marmont - you must, you need to have dinner in the garden here. It's simply stunning. But you'll have to make do with your memories alone as there are no cameras allowed. Celebs pay around $4000 to stay here, which guarantees them absolute privacy (think R-Patz and K-Stew who reside here when they're in town). For this reason it's great for star spotting - we were seated next to Lindsay! And the food and service were delicious to boot. Not as expensive as you would think either - it was a pleasant surprise when we received the bill at the end of the evening.

www.chateaumarmont.com

Shop: Robertsons Blvd, Rodeo Drive (even if you cant afford anything.... stroll down and look for the yellow rolls parked in front of the yellow shop. It'll cost you $1500 just to browse in this one!), The Grove (fab outdoor shopping mall) and the Beverly Centre. Don't miss Maxfields on the corner of Robertsons and Melrose Ave. You wont be able to afford anything but it's fun to browse the amazing merchandising, Hermes everything and incredible jewels. Kitson is also a fun store which is well priced so you can actually walk away with some fun stuff.

Visit: Disneyland. The happiest place on earth - what else needs to be said!

See: LA's surprisingly fantastic art galleries.

www.moca.org

Don't miss: The Santa Monica pier and Venice Beach

You can catch the bus down (takes about 45 mins) for $1.25. Bargain! Then hire a bike and ride along the cycle track all the way from SM to VB. It's full of crazies who are hilarious to chat to and make sure to check out Muscle Gym and the skate park (full of hotties)

Snack on: Churros. It's like a long thing pretzel. Covered in so much sugar that you can practically feel your teeth rotting but so delicious it's worth it.

Let me know if you head over... or if you have any favourite spots that I've missed!

My gorgeous friend Natalie recently signed off an email with: Live with no excuses. Love with no regrets. A lovely sentiment don't you think? Something to strive for.

She's currently playing polo in Argentina with her very handsome and debonair boyfriend and will in fact be moonlighting as a writer on this very site. Such is her way with words, that I have been begging her to pen a novel for years (though she is clearly too busy riding horses) and hope to entice her into the heady world of writing by getting her to contribute to this blog.

Hopefully she wont mind that I've posted this pic of her and the boy. Yesterday they decided to get really dressed up (since they are the only one's staying at the estancia at the moment, they have complete run of the property and the staff!) and get one of the gauchos to bring up a Criolla horse so that they could do a "photo shoot" together. Ummm... so fun. A friend snapped some photos and voila. Of course it helps when your subject is this beautiful though don't you think?

Hopefully she will post the rest of the pics for you to see soon....

Everyone should stroll down Avenue Q at least once!

If you're in Perth at the moment don't miss the hilarious musical Avenue Q! Check out my interview with star of the show Michala Banas at www.sunsetmag.com.au

Off to see Jersey Boys

If you are in Melbourne make sure you go and see Jersey Boys!! A fabulous show and a truly fantastic night out.

JERSEY BOYS, the Tony Award-winning Best Musical of 2006 that takes you up the charts, and across the country.

JERSEY BOYS is the story of how four boys from the wrong side of the tracks became one of the biggest American pop music sensations of all time. Frankie Valli, Bob Gaudio, Tommy DeVito and Nick Massi – THE FOUR SEASONS – wrote their own songs, invented their own sounds and sold 175 million records worldwide – all before they were thirty.JERSEY BOYS features their hit songs “Sherry”, “Big Girls Don’t Cry”, “Rag Doll”, “Oh What a Night” and “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You”, among others.

Check out www.jerseyboysaustralia.com.au for more info

No gold-digging for me; I take diamonds! We may be off the gold standard someday. ~Mae West

Not if Kalgoorlie has anything to do with it!

I loved Kalgoorlie.... the super pit was CRAZY - it is just so big. Poor landscape, flora and fauna.... that said - I'm wearing gold earrings as I type this. The town is so cute though. Beautiful old heritage buildings and lots of cafes and restaurants. Its only 3 hours from Perth as well! Lots of money to be made there for those willing to venture west. The only disappointing part was the infamous brothel. There were cardboard cutouts in the windows where the girls were supposed to be!!

Lots of big things

Australia has become known for its love of big things and the drive to WA didn't disappoint!!

From Ceduna we headed off for another very loooong day of driving.
We stopped the night this time at a town called Norseman. According to www.totaltravel.com.au - Norseman was discovered in 1894 by Laurie Sinclair. Sinclair named the site after his horse, Norseman, who pawed the ground uncovering a gold nugget. This led to the discovery of one of the richest quartz reefs ever mined in Australia. Situated at the junction of Highway 1 and Highway 94, Norseman has the Nullarbor and Adelaide to the east, Perth to the West, Kalgoorlie Boulder to the north and Esperance to the south.The town is surrounded by beautiful, dense eucalypt bushland, with ancient rock outcrops and large salt lakes nearby. Enjoy the breathtaking views from Beacon Hill, feast on a barbeque at Dundas Rocks, or view the historical collection.The salt lakes are presently completely dry!! We couldn't believe our eyes when we saw them. I think the town has suffered greatly from drought.... its beautifully designed and has the potential to be lovely, but many houses stand empty which is such a shame!

Driving driving driving

We met lots of lovely and interesting characters on our way across the Nullabor. I thought it would be just that - a big bore - but it was anything but!!! We saw the emus, kangaroos and wombats (ok some were dead but we still saw them!) and whales! I didnt know that you can see the ocean from the Nullabor?? And its the most beautiful turquoise water that melts into a deeper blue.

The Nullarbor Plain is the stretch of land between Norseman in Western Australia and Ceduna in South Australia. The Highway which travels over this land is called the Eyre Highway,named after John Eyre who was the first European to make the east-west crossing. The journey took 5 months and took the life of his partner John Baxter.

The total distance by road betweeen Perth and Adelaide is 2700 km and The Nullarbor crossing part of the trip is almost half the total distance. The longest distance between fuel stops is 200km.

The road was fully sealed in 1976 and is a relatively easy but veryyyyy long drive. Lots to see on the way though!

Between Border Village and Nullarbor Roadhouse you can take advantage of 6 or more lookouts along the way to view the famous Bunda Cliffs of the Nullarbor Plain. Southern Right Whales can be seen here in their winter nursery grounds - between May and October. Nullarbor Roadhouse has fuel, food, accomodation and souvenirs and is an acces point to view the Southern Right Whales. I also bought a great book here that was written by one of the original owners of the roadhouse. It's a great read and written as she must have spoken in that real ol' Aussie twang.

We stopped the night at Ceduna - a potentially pretty town. The Aboriginal word "Chedoona" means to a place to 'sit down and rest' I'm told and for the traveler crossing the Nullarbor, Ceduna is a welcome overnight rest stop. It has a great new pub on the water in the main strip and a beautiful jetty in which to watch the sunset. It can be dangerous though- I suspect the locals have too much time and booze on their hands.

And so we started our trip across Australia

Dont miss the Ned Kelly Memorial Museum. Its only a km or two off the highway and totally worth the effort. The town of Glenrowan is really pretty and well kept with lots of little cafes and gift shops. There's also a great novel about the life of Ned Kelly that you can buy for $39.95 at the shop. Its a great read so far!

Ned Kelly Memorial Museum

35 Gladstone Street, Glenrowan, 3675

Phone 0357 662 448

Amber Scott.... simply stunning. The Australian Ballet is lucky to have her!!

Great Fashion Moments.

1. The divine Michelle Jank. Forget the hair and makeup for real life.... but i could totally rock that dress for an avant garde wedding.

2. Kate Moss. Oh to pull off a top hat and walking stick with such aplomb.

3. Kate Moss. Wow.

4. Alex Perry Spring Summer 08/09 collection.... just beautiful.

More pretty pics... they just make me feel happy to look at them!

And i just couldnt resist... these are beautiful too!

Check out Isabel Lucas in one of Hannah MacLeods beautiful dresses.

Check out the rest of her stuff at her website www.hannahmacleod.com

Its been a while I know... enjoy this collection of beautiful pics.

The Three Sisters

Our new magazine holder. $20.00 will get you an old decrepit ladder these days.

Tired from our journey (Hannah from driving, me from listening to her whinge abut driving) we stopped at quirky cafe 'Two Front Doors' for a bite to eat.

Our meal was delicious. I don't actually know what it was. Tired and weary from our journey - I asked the owner (Blue Mountains City Councillor David Clark) to make us something yummy. And he did.

On Sunday Han and I headed to the Blue Mountains to go antiquing. Our fave shop is the cluttered and eclectic 'Whimsical Notions'.Since we couldn't afford everything we wanted...
we took photos instead.

Good ol Luna Park. Always fun

Cousin Al. It's funny because she's my cousin and yet everyone calls her Cousin Al. Isn't that right Han? :)