Armed with will and determination

It's been a second, again.

I will fully admit that three quarters of my purpose of going to Perth was so I could go to Rottnest Island. All I knew about this island that there are quokkas.

Thing is, as I'm sure you can tell by the name, Rottnest Island is indeed an island. It's a 45 minute ferry ride from Hillary's Boat Harbour. "Ferry" is just fancy for boat. And as we learned from my last trip to Australia, I'm not so good on boats. As with every trip on boats I seem to take, the day started early. I had no idea how long it would take to get a cab or how long for a cab to get there, so I was early to the harbour. I thought there would be coffee - there was not. On the ferry they were showing Mr. Bean but there wasn't any sound. Didn't matter because me being me, I was in the washroom throwing up. Good times.

Rotto is not a large island. I got a bus ticket for the hop on hop off and I'm glad I did. At most of the stops, there were volunteer tour guides! They were very knowledgeable. One of the guides told us about the Rottnest Island daisy, a native flower that isn't actually a daisy, it's a member of the carrot family.

He hadn't seen them for many years and was very happy to see the two that we did. Apparently they used to cover the island for a couple weeks a year so it looked blue from the higher points.

One of the higher points is Wadjemup Lighthouse. There are apparently two lighthouses but you need a bike to get to the second one.

Wadjemup is an aboriginal word meaning "place across the water where the spirits are".
The Island is considered to be a place of transition between the physical and spiritual world and the spirit of the deceased is believed to travel to Wadjemup during its journey towards to the afterlife. When the spirit is ready to leave the physical world it moves to the west end of the Island, where the whale takes the spirit on to its final resting place known as Kooranup, located on the horizon in the deep ocean west of the Island. There is a Whadjuk Noongar burial on the site, though I didn't choose to pursue access (or even if I could).

I'm well aware that no one is reading this and everyone just wants to see pictures of quokka. We're getting there.

I stopped at a spot called Little Salmon Bay at Parker's Point. There were enough people on the beach and in the water that it was nice. The water was a little cooler than I expected but so very clear. I also learned an important lesson here: Havianas are buoyant. They want to float. They want to float right off your feet! I managed to get it back and take them both off before I had no shoes to speak of for the rest of the day.

Looking back at the pictures I had to work hard to figure out if my foot in the water picture was on my phone or on my camera.

 Really, the water was this clear!

Quokka? Quokka.

Quokka are marsupials that live mostly only on this island. There is a teensy population on the coast of the mainland in WA, but far away from Perth (and I don't think they're native to the area).

Further up Parker Point is a snorkelling trail. There are plaques under the water to guide you on and teach you about the marine life in the area. Very cool!

More quokka? James and a quokka!

There are signs everywhere saying don't touch the quokka, don't feed the quokka, the quokka are wild animals, please give them space. This did not stop people from touching, feeding, and crowding the quokka. I was getting very irritated! I put James in the general area of the quokka and they came to him.

My main google searches in the day before this side trip mostly concerned if I could see a quokka this time of year (yes), where (everywhere), and if they're humanely kept (they're wild).

I also saw a lizard.

Not a big lizard, bit a lizard nonetheless. I let it be.

The water is just beautiful. In the far distance, you can see Perth.

The island is mostly accessible by the hop on hop off bus, which do a great job for the price. The only other motor vehicles I saw were government. Everyone else was on a bike and it was so nice to see.

It was getting to the end of the day and I was on the opposite end of the island. There are four ferries a day from each company that runs them - two in the morning to get there and two on the way back. I hadn't taken the "early" ferry back because it was my birthday and I wanted more time on this amazing little island. So I went to my favourite spot in Little Armstrong Bay and took one last picture.

I was smart enough on the return to get a seat on the top deck of the ferry for the return. I was right at the side of the boat as well, so the open and the wind helped a lot. I didn't get sea sick! I was also napping.

Quokka.

Next: Anatomically correct.