Nature tripping
The district where we live seems to be better known for the treatment plant, the hoons and cheap housing. I'm not going to lie. Some of these aspects touch on our daily life. For example, maybe two days in a year, we catch a whiff of the sewage that makes its away to the Western Treatment Plant.
Yet Lake Borrie, located within the sewage farm, is an important wetland noted for high levels of biodiversity, second only to Kakadu National Park. At any one time, the treatment plant provides food and shelter to 65,000 birds (roughly 270 different species), some of which have migrated from as far as Alaska. So it's not just shit over there.
Which is probably what I'd generally say about where we live. Two blocks from our house is Lollypop Creek. It used to be a watering hole for the old pastoralists. Strewn all over the east bank are massive rocks said to be volcanic in origin. There are gorgeous bends in the creek and serene spots to stop and take in the scent of gum leaves. Several families of ducks seem to reside permanently in the creek, adding to the idyll. We discovered the creek well after we signed the mortgage and I still remember our delight when the view opened up during an afternoon walk. What we were to realise over the years is that such spots are not rare in our area.
Werribee South Beach, as a second example, is only ten minutes' drive from our house. Its beauty is rough and craggy, even broodingly wild sometimes, unlike the sandy stretches of Ocean Grove. But who doesn't get moved by the open sea? The view is completely uninterrupted at Werribee South Beach, with no built infrastructure that abuts other shorelines in Melbourne.
Then there's the iconic Werribee River, five minutes from our house, which also provides heart-stopping views. As with Lollypop Creek, it is amazing in the afternoon, as the sun dapples the trees with shadows and birds start roosting for the evening.
The thing with these bodies of water is that they never look the same from one visit to the next. Never. There is always an angle that you previously missed or a detail that had been hidden until that moment. It helps me understand why urban marine developments have been extremely fashionable in real estate over the past seven or eight years. There is something about living close to natural, organic environments that is life-giving. [Which of course makes it ironic that we destroy much of it even as we try to carve out landscapes to suit our lifestyle].
I don't take for granted where we live. There are gifts at our doorstep, in our backyard, down the road. A nature trip is just a walk away.

