Rottnest Island

Pristine beaches, hundreds of bikes, quokkas, peacocks and a lifestyle that exudes relaxation. This is Rottnest Island, an island about a 40 minute ferry ride from Perth. Rottnest Island is a popular getaway destination for Perthites and residents of WA. There are no civilian vehicles on the island, so the first thing visitors do when they arrive is rent a bike. Jenny and I both had a few days off together and the weather looked great. Unfortunately it’s not cheap to get to Rotto, $72 per person one way, so we thought it would be best if we bought a package that includes one nights accommodation, bike hire and the ferry ride. This was the best option because of the size of the island, approximately 11km long and 3 km wide, there is just too much to see in one day.
When we decided to go to Rotto on Saturday afternoon we knew that our Sunday afternoon was going to be busy looking for snorkeling equipment. Jenny and I both wanted to purchase our own equipment instead of always renting it so we set a reasonable budget and went shopping. We found a local dive shop at the Hillary’s boat harbor, which is where we will be picking up the ferry the next morning. The dive shop had a great beginner’s package which included a mask, fins, snorkel and reef boots, so we got fitted and each bought one. We were so excited and surprised on the ease of finding equipment the first try that suits our budget and fits well. So with snorkeling equipment checked off the list all we had to do was buy our accommodation package. Our trip started early Monday morning when the rest of Perth was rushing to get to work, Jenny and I were getting excited to spend two days relaxing, sun tanning at the beach and of course try our new snorkeling equipment. We arrived at Hillary’s 30 minutes before departure which gave us time to pick our bikes at the harbor and put them on the ferry. Jenny and I were anxiously awaiting for the weather to improve so we could spend a day or two on Rottnest, and with the forecast calling for high 28 degrees on Monday and then 31 degrees on Tuesday withe sunny skies, we figured it was the perfect time to venture out to Rotto. So when we boarded the ferry at around 8 AM it was already about 20 degrees and not a cloud in the sky. It was really turning out to be an excellent two days, but as we pulled away from the jetty and hit the sea, I realized an old problem I have was rearing its ugly head. With the combination of the hot sun beating down on me and the motion of the rough swell I quickly remembered the torturous feeling of motion sickness. Rendered helpless, I told Jenny that I wasn’t feeling too well, so we moved out of the sun. I laid on her lap which is when the show began. For those of you that know me well, you know that in certain undesirable situations like being hung over or feeling motion sick my body feels that it’s necessary to sweat, A LOT! It’s an awkward and embarrassing symptom of a pissed off stomach but obviously helps to cool my body down. Poor Jenny was forced to hold me as I sweated all over her lap, but the feeling subsided slowly and before I knew it we were arriving to the main jetty on Rottnest Island.
Our first impression was, wow! We couldn’t believe that we were only a short boats ride to Perth, it felt like we were on a secluded tropical island in the middle of the Indian Ocean. As we left the ferry and stepped onto the jetty we were amazed by the number of bikes we saw. The primary way to get around the island is on bike, and everyone had one. Because we already booked our accommodation at the Lodge which is one of the islands hotels, we didn’t need to pick up our bags and bring them ourselves, as they had their own service that would do that for us. In retrospect we should have just picked up our back pack ourselves as we walked passed it on the Jetty. When we arrived to our hotel room we were told that it shouldn’t take long for our bags to arrive and that they will be brought directly to our room when they had them. Well we arrived to our room at around 9 and didn’t get our bags until after 11. We weren’t very impressed as the weather was gorgeous and the beaches were calling our names. Someone that we met who is actually from Ottawa told us to go to a little beach that’s in a bay and secluded from the breaking waves because there is excellent snorkeling there. After finding Little Salmon Bay on the map and grabbing our snorkeling gear and bikes we were off. The bike ride was harder than anticipated, rolling hill after rolling hill and over 5kms long, we were pleasantly surprised when we turned a corner to see a picturesque view of Little Salmon Bay. Turquoise water, a small private beach and the sound of crashing waves awaited us. We spent the whole day relaxing on the beach and trying out our snorkeling gear, but unfortunately the wind was blowing directly into us and the water was cool. We had a great day soaking up the rays and luckily we were smart enough to bring some food and drinks as the nearest store was 5km away. When we headed back to our room we were starving and craving some fish‘n chips so we headed to the Quokka Arms, the only pub on the island. What we thought would be a very ordinary meal turned out to be a very cool and new wild life experience for us. We ate with peacocks and quokkas and enjoyed a spectacular view of the ocean as the sun slowly set. At one point during dinner Jenny felt something furry on her foot and had a little freak out session. When she looked down to see what it was, she saw a little quokka minding its own business looking for food. Quokkas are the reason why Rottnest is the name of the island. The Dutch discovered the island and when they arrived they were greeted by hundreds of these cute little animals and actually thought they were rats, and subsequently named the island Ratsnest Island. Quokkas are nocturnal animals that are covered in a brown soft looking fur and have a thick rat like tail. The best time to see the famous quokka is at sunrise or sundown but more often than not you can see one or two hopping around without a care in the world.

The second day was much like the first, we found a beautiful beach which was apparently awarded the title of Australia’s best beach. The beach was appropriately called The Basin, an area on the island that has fine white beautiful sand, with an amazing never ending view of the ocean. The reason why it’s called The Basin is because of the large flat rocks under the surface of the water that create a shallow swimming area with large deep open areas perfect for swimming and snorkeling in and amongst them. It was another great day at the beach, and the nice thing about The Basin is that it’s only a 10 minute walk from the Lodge. We left the beach around 3 as we had to be at the ferry for 4:30, so we hiked back to the Lodge grabbed our bags and then headed to the main jetty. As a precaution Jenny and I both took some gravol type pills in hopes that we wouldn’t have another episode like last time. The ocean turned out to be much smoother and was the perfect way to end our holiday in a holiday.