Rottnest Island

Caught the train down to Fremantle to join up with the Rottnest Express - the ferry heading over to Rottnest Island.

The ferry passage was nice and smooth and we sat out the back to get the sun and see where we were going.

The island itself is fairly small - about ten kilometres long and about four wide. Thompson's Bay is the main settlement on the island (and is referred to on road signs and maps as 'the settlement'. Most of the island is holiday cottages and pretty much the first building you come to off the jetty is the check-in. We went past that to the bicycle hire and hired two mountain bikes.

We headed up to a place called Geordie's Bay on the northern coastline - where there was a small clutch of holiday cottages and a place to grab something to eat. The route took us through the inland lakes which were very pretty. They are all protected areas too.

From there we headed west to the tip of the island (it's shaped something like a wedge with Thompson's Bay at the thick end on the eastern side, and the western side essentially just being a point) along the northern coastline stopping next at a small beach called Little Parakeets Bay. Small is probably an understatement as it was no more than ten metres wide and most of it was taken up with rocks. However, we did get it to ourselves though which was a bonus and we tossed the ball around for a while.

Unfortunately when we got back to the bikes we discovered that Dave's had a flat tyre. I cycled back to Geordie's Bay (while he walked the bike back) and called the 'breakdown assistance' number. They were pretty good and drove up with a replacement bike within 20 minutes so we weren;t hindered too much.

We cycled back the way we came for about 2 or 3 kilometres and then, about two thirds of the way along the northern coastline, took an inland road south past the lighthouse (Oliver's Hill) and then met the southern coastline, where we headed back east.

We stopped again at a place called Parkers Point to sun on the beach for half an hour (and have a bit of a breather). Didn't have the beach to ourself this time but only a few other people on it.

The road from there was very up-and-down and a little hard work. Just on the edge of Thompson's Bay we stopped at a place where you could apparently see Quokkas - a small rat-like Marsupial (and the reason for the island's name - Rat's Nest in Dutch). There were several information boards up telling us about the Quokkas. We were also lucky enough to see a few. Very tame little creatures - even a mother with a child.

We dropped the bikes back off and found out that the Quokkas are so tame it's hard work not to see them - and to prove the point as soon as we came out of the bike hire place we saw two hopping across the road.

We grabbed some dinner and a pint in the Quokka Inn overlooking the sea towards the mainland and then bided our time till the ferry came to take us back to the mainland.