Rotto

Rottnest Island (called Rotto by the locals) is a little slice of paradise just off the mainland. It's about a 30 minute high-speed ferry ride from Fremantle, and we caught the early ferry so we could spend a good chunk of our day there. When we went last year, we caught a later ferry and felt rushed the entire day, so this time we were much more relaxed and carefree. Rotto is the simple life, not much for expectations other than leisurely riding bikes all over the whole island and hanging out on some of the mediterranean-style beaches.

The island is an A-class reserve allowing only motorized service vehicles, and so mostly everyone gets around on rental bikes. Fantastic to have all these winding roads along unspoiled beaches, and never have to look over your shoulders for cars.


We put our bikes down at Little Parakeet Bay for some fun in the sun, and Greg went exploring in the rocks. He found some creatures that looked like trilobites stuck to the rocks, as well as some small crabs hanging out in the crevaces. Of course they were hiding when I tried to look at them. For at least an hour, we had this hidden piece of paradise all to ourselves. And even then, a small group of girls only came down to take a quick swim and cool off, then continued on their bikes again.

Greg found some cuttle bone on the beach and we had to take a picture to show Lynds and Dave. Cuttle bone is a big favorite of the family cockatiel, Buddy, and we figured he needed to know where it comes from. At certain times of the year there are hundreds of these 'bones' washed up on the beach, and we were thinking of bringing a suitcase-full home just for Bud to sharpen his beak on; or not...

Rottnest is only 14 km's long at it's widest point, but has very diverse surroundings. There are many large hills, loads of isolated beaches, some scrubland, salty inland lakes, and the most western reaches of the island turn to rocks and cliffs. The really neat thing about heading to the western edge, is that after that, there's no more land until Madagascar. The Indian Ocean stretches as far as our eyes and imaginations can see. No dolphins playing in the surf this time though. Because it's just that much farther out in the ocean, the surf is bigger and Rotto attracts some of the more dare-devil surfers. It's not uncommon to hear the dudes at Scarborough beach saying 'imagine what it's like at Rotto', with an edge of awe in their voice. Unfortunately, it's not cheap to take a day trip to the island, so most leave it to special occasions. Or maybe that's fortunately for the creatures that make this island their home; this is one of the only places in the world that you can find the marsupial quokka, which are considered vulnerable.