Rottnest Island



We spent the following day at Rottnest Island, which is a small island just off the coast of Perth. It's a big daytrip spot. It has beautiful beaches and has been largely untouched by human development. There's a hotel, a restuarant, some apartment accomodations, two lighthouses, and the dock. And that's it. Cars are even illegal. The only way to get around is by bicycle. Bob in particular was looking forward to that part. The island has a circumference of about 15 kilometers. Greg biked it late in the day. It was a really scenic ride. Here was our chariot over.

 

 

The main draw are the beaches. This is called "The Basin" for the way the rock suddenly drops off from knee to shoulder deep water. You can see it in this picture, it's the lighter blue section in the middle.

 

While Bob, Olivia, and Greg went for a bike ride (Olivia cursing the other two for much of the time), Tina and Laurel took Immy for a walk over to the Basin. Immy woke up super excited. We think she might have recognized the sound of the ocean from her white noise machine at home. Or it might have been her super adorable flower bathing suit. Thanks Roberto and Rachel for the great hand-me-down!




This little guy is a quokka, the indigenous animal of Rottnest Island. Like everything in Australia, they are a marsupial. It's like a big rat, but way cuter. Also, they are completely used to having people around and without any cars, nothing really poses a threat to them, so they are pretty chill. This guy let Laurel get really close for the picture.

This is Immy's first trip to the ocean, and this picture captures the exact moment she first made contact with the Indian Ocean. She did not care for it. The water was really cold, and it surprised her. She started screaming immediately, and didn't stop until we took her up to the towels and dried her off.

She liked the sand better, but she was still a little nervous about being so close to that mean old ocean.

Immy loves hanging out with her Grammy!

Towards the end of the day, Bob and Olivia rode off to another part of the island for a swim. Little did they know that while this picture was being taken, someone was stealing their bikes. Not cool, guys, not cool. So they had a much longer walk back to the ferry. Fortunately, our tour company was cool about it since they never gave us the bike locks they were supposed to.

 

We had a great time, it was a beautiful day in the sun. Not many better ways to spend the end of the year then on the beach. Good job Southern Hemisphere and your backwards seasons.