Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
Today I had an adventure on Rottnest island, a beautiful paradise of nature just 19kms from the Perth's port suburb of Freemantle. The island was discovered by Dutch explorers who saw the island's native animal the Quokka, and thought it to be a giant rat. As Quokka's are abundant on the island, they named it 'Rotte Nest', which translates to Rats nest. Luckily Quokka's aren't giant rats, but a very cute and inquisitive member of the marsupial family. They are usually nocturnal, but I managed to spot a few; the funniest one hopped it's way into one of the sandwich bars, which was amusing entertainment whilst I was enjoying a coffee at the bakery. The journey over to Rottnest was quick, although an early start at 6.30 to catch the train from Perth to Freemantle (30 mins), in time for the ferry at 7.30. I had booked a package which included bike and snorkel kit hire for the day, as one of the things that makes Rottnest such a special place is that no personal vehicles can be taken onto the island, and all I came across were a couple of maintenence vehicles for the accommodation areas. The island is 11kms at it's longest point and 4.5kms at it's widest, with 63 bays and beaches to explore. For me personally it is one of the most beautiful places I have ever discovered. Rottnest is classed as a nature reserve and apart from the accommodation and ameneties area at the jetty, there is nothing but secluded beaches, reefs, lakes, moor-like vegetation, animals and a couple of lighthouses over the rest of the island. I cycled around the full island circuit, and stopped at a couple of spots to do some snorkelling. The water was pretty cold (I think Fiji has spoilt me!), but since I had hired my snorkel, mask and fins, I wasn't going to let them sit on the back of my bike sunbathing. I saw a few fish, but there wasn't much coral, mainly seagrass. I was surprised that even though WA currently has school holidays (and Rottnest is Perth's holiday playground), that I still saw so many bays with no-one around. The island was pretty hilly, but that only adds to it's charm. I saw a couple of snakes crossing the tarmac, which I've yet to look up what type. By the time I had got back to the jetty I had cycled about 24kms. Too quickly, it was time to board the boat back to Freemantle, and the travel agent had booked me onto a jet boat which was like being on a water rollercoaster, so that was the icing on the cake for a fantastic day. Now I'm well and truly cream crackered. xx
- comments