Tuesday 26th March 2019 - Rottnest Island

As sorted yesterday we got the ferry at 8.45 over to Rottnest Island. The ferry journey took 1 1/2 hours from the city, down the Swan river to Fremantle then onto the Indian Ocean. It was an interesting journey down the river, being able to see the city from the river and going past some incredibly large homes as we did. Then through the old port of Fremantle with a large cruise liner moored on one side and a Maersk container ship on the other.

We had booked bikes for Rottnest. The island is only about 11km long and less wide, with no cars on the one road that runs round the island, just some hop on hop off buses that only go clockwise. However the world and his wife also seemed to have booked bikes and with 3 different ferry companies coming into Rottnest, it was more like bike central! And the bikes were not great! I never did get the gears to work on mine!

We set off in a clockwise direction. The road kind of follows the coastline, with detours down to various beaches. But there is very little shelter as you ride along. Having just about got away from the worst of the bikes we watched as someone had a temper tantrum with his and threw it on the ground!! We weren‘t sure if he was mad at the bike or the girlfriend but we cycled swiftly past!!

The coastal scenery was glorious but I have to say that the heat was difficult to tolerate. We found shade as and when we could and that is when we first encountered Quokkas. These can only be found on Rottnest and are marsupials that look a bit like overgrown rats! We were sitting on a log having a drink and snack and I felt something touch my leg! I leapt up and yelled!! What we didn’t know was that these creatures are really tame, and unfortunately fed by tourists which means they are after food. This one grabbed my rucksack and didn‘t want to let go!

The views continued to be beautiful but eventually we needed some lunch so we stopped again. No quokkas visible, but you’ve guessed it, they smelt the food and again it was me they crept up to and again I leapt up and yelled! 🙄

The plan was to try and find a beach where Geoff could have a swim, and there were plenty of those, but none with any shade, until we got nearly back to the start of our bike ride. Almost the last beach and we decided to check it out. There was the tiniest bit of shade under a rock and we decided to grab it, particularly as the sun was likely to create more shade as it moved round. It was a good move.I sat in the shade looking after our things whilst Geoff had his much longed for swim, and not just one but two!! After the intense heat and power of the sun it was good to cool off in shade or water! I did have a paddle!

We finally finished our bike ride and headed for a cafe for a cup of tea which we had to let to go almost cold before we could drink it! Sometimes you just need tea! Temperatures were in the mid 30’s apparently so no wonder we were hot!

People were congregating to go back on the various ferries so the little settlement was heaving again. There is also quite a lot of holiday accommodation but we dont know if there is much of a permanent community or not. It is certainly a tourist hotspot with shops, food outlets and cafes. Once away from where the ferries come in it is much quieter, although every so often you come across large groups of people, sometimes just blocking the road!

At 5pm we were back on the ferry for the 90 minute journey. It had been a hot and tiring day but we are glad that we went.