Dwellingup, Western Australia

Dwellingup is a town in Western Australia located in a timber and fruitgrowing area in the Darling Range east-south-east of Pinjarra. At the 2011 census, Dwellingup had a population of 383.[1]

Dwellingup
Western Australia
Dwellingup History and Visitor Information Centre
Dwellingup
Coordinates32.72°S 116.06°E / -32.72; 116.06
Population383 (2011 census)[1]
Established1910
Postcode(s)6213
Elevation267 m (876 ft)
Location97 km (60 mi) S of Perth
LGA(s)Shire of Murray
State electorate(s)Murray-Wellington
Federal Division(s)Canning
Mean max temp Mean min temp Annual rainfall
21.9 °C
71 °F		 9.6 °C
49 °F		 1,233.0 mm
48.5 in

Name

Townsite lots were surveyed at this place by surveyor W.F. Rudall in 1909 after the Lands Department became aware that the site was planned as the terminus of the "Pinjarra-Marrinup Railway". Names suggested for the place by Rudall were "Dwellingerup" or "Marrinup", after nearby brooks, or "McLarty" after a local MLA who had been very active concerning the railway. Surveyor General H.F. Johnston chose "Dwellingupp" after being misinformed regarding the spelling of Dwellingerup Brook. Ignoring a suggestion from the Under Secretary to amend the name to "Dwellingdown", the Minister for Lands approved the name as "Dwellingup" in December 1909. Eventually, the spelling "Dwellingupp" was chosen by order of the Under Secretary for Lands, and the townsite was gazetted as Dwellingupp in February 1910. The spelling was amended to Dwellingup in 1915. Dwellingup is an Aboriginal name said to mean "place of nearby water" or "on and by the whole place there is fog, dew and mist".[2]

Bushfires

In one of Western Australia's worst bushfires, many small surrounding communities in the area were destroyed, including 132 houses in Dwellingup itself, in the fires of 1961. There were no fatalities, but 800 people were left homeless. The town was rebuilt.[3]

Dwellingup experienced serious bushfires again over the week starting on 3 February 2007. Sixteen houses were destroyed and thousand of hectares of private property and forest were burnt. There was no loss of life.[4][5]

Bauxite mining

Dwellingup is near the largest bauxite mine in the world, at Huntly,[6] which supplies ore to the Pinjarra and Kwinana aluminium refineries.

Facilities

Dwellingup is home to Nanga Bush Camp, a popular camp for senior primary schools and high schools. Some of the activities at Nanga Bush Camp include water rafting, night watching, a swimming area and bush tracks.[7]

Another major attraction in the area is the Hotham Valley Railway. A Dwellingup Forest Ranger Tour operates between May and October, and is steam hauled between Pinjarra and Dwellingup.[8]

Dwellingup has a skate park and pump track. It also has the Munda Biddi Bike Trail and the Captain Fawcett 4WD Trail.

The Bibbulmun Track, a long-distance walk trail, passes through Dwellingup.[9]

Climate

Dwellingup is one of the wettest inhabited places in Western Australia, with an average annual rainfall of over 1,200 mm.[10] It has a hot-summer Mediterranean climate (Köppen climate classification: Csa).

Climate data for Dwellingup
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 42.9
(109.2)		 43.5
(110.3)		 40.6
(105.1)		 34.7
(94.5)		 29.0
(84.2)		 24.3
(75.7)		 23.1
(73.6)		 24.7
(76.5)		 30.4
(86.7)		 35.6
(96.1)		 38.0
(100.4)		 42.0
(107.6)		 43.5
(110.3)
Average high °C (°F) 29.7
(85.5)		 29.6
(85.3)		 27.0
(80.6)		 22.5
(72.5)		 18.5
(65.3)		 16.0
(60.8)		 15.0
(59.0)		 15.7
(60.3)		 17.3
(63.1)		 20.1
(68.2)		 23.8
(74.8)		 27.3
(81.1)		 21.9
(71.4)
Daily mean °C (°F) 22.0
(71.6)		 22.1
(71.8)		 20.0
(68.0)		 16.4
(61.5)		 13.1
(55.6)		 11.3
(52.3)		 10.3
(50.5)		 10.6
(51.1)		 11.9
(53.4)		 14.1
(57.4)		 17.2
(63.0)		 20.0
(68.0)		 15.7
(60.3)
Average low °C (°F) 14.3
(57.7)		 14.6
(58.3)		 13.0
(55.4)		 10.3
(50.5)		 7.7
(45.9)		 6.5
(43.7)		 5.5
(41.9)		 5.5
(41.9)		 6.5
(43.7)		 8.0
(46.4)		 10.5
(50.9)		 12.6
(54.7)		 9.6
(49.3)
Record low °C (°F) 6.0
(42.8)		 5.0
(41.0)		 3.0
(37.4)		 0.0
(32.0)		 −3.9
(25.0)		 −3.0
(26.6)		 −3.9
(25.0)		 −2.2
(28.0)		 −1.7
(28.9)		 −0.8
(30.6)		 0.6
(33.1)		 0.9
(33.6)		 −3.9
(25.0)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 17.1
(0.67)		 21.7
(0.85)		 26.4
(1.04)		 65.5
(2.58)		 157.7
(6.21)		 235.8
(9.28)		 234.8
(9.24)		 194.0
(7.64)		 131.5
(5.18)		 79.0
(3.11)		 45.7
(1.80)		 21.2
(0.83)		 1,233
(48.54)
Average precipitation days (≥ 0.2mm) 3.4 3.4 5.0 9.6 15.8 18.8 20.9 19.2 16.2 12.2 8.1 4.9 137.5
Mean monthly sunshine hours 325.5 268.4 244.9 183.0 158.1 117.0 133.3 161.2 177.0 232.5 255.0 310.0 2,565.9
Source: [10]
gollark: I agree, somewhat!
gollark: You could have one per floor and occasionally bring in humans for stairs.
gollark: But the majority of the thing is just "move back and forth over surfaces with mop/etc".
gollark: They aren't very full replacements, of course.
gollark: I mean, we have roombas.

See also

Notes
  1. Australian Bureau of Statistics (31 October 2012). "2011 Census Quickstats: Dwellingup". 2011 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 31 October 2012.
  2. Nyungar Boodjera Wangkiny (The People’s Land is Speaking): Nyungar Place Nomenclature of the Southwest of Western Australia Nyungar names of the boodjar or land in the southwest of Australia and their interpretations http://www.boodjar.sis.uwa.edu.au/_literature.../Nyungar_Boodjera_Wangkiny. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  3. Courtney, Joe; Middelmann, Miriam (2005). "Meteorological hazards" (PDF). Natural hazard risk in Perth, Western Australia – Cities Project Perth Report. Geoscience Australia. Retrieved 25 December 2012.
  4. "Fire recovery work continues in Dwellingup". ABC News. 14 February 2007. Retrieved 25 December 2012.
  5. "WA blaze contained but crews still busy". ABC News. 5 February 2007. Archived from the original on 15 January 2013. Retrieved 25 December 2012.
  6. http://www.alcoa.com/australia/en/info_page/mining_huntly_willowdale.asp
  7. "Nanga Bush Camp Website". Western Australia. Retrieved 27 July 2012.
  8. "Hotham Valley Railway Website". Western Australia. Retrieved 27 July 2012.
  9. Website Bibbulmun Track Foundation
  10. "Climate statistics for Dwellingup". Bureau of Meteorology. August 2018. Retrieved 29 August 2018.

References

    Western Australian Land Information Authority. "History of country town names – D". Retrieved 8 June 2007.

    Media related to Dwellingup, Western Australia at Wikimedia Commons

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