Rotto!

Lovely Day on Rottnest Island 

Let me introduce to you Rottnest Island, located 11 miles west of Perth in the Indian Ocean. Locals love to shorten Rottnest Island to "Rotto" as they like to abbreviate and shorten words like it's an Olympic sport.  Rottnest Island was discovered by a Dutch explorer in the late 1600's.  The island was given it's name because the explorers mistook the quokka's for giant rats.  Rottnest literally translates to Rats Nest in Dutch.  

 As we now know, the quokka's that inhabit Rottnest Island are not rats but marsupials, cousins in fact, to the well known kangaroo and wallaby.  The main population of the world's quokka's is on Rottnest Island; there are a few others on Bald Island and even less on Western Australian's mainland. Quokka's are more curious than a cat and will hop on over to check you out and give you a sniff.  They casually chew on little leaves and grass and will look up at you and smile.  Our family could easily see why they are called, "The world's happiest animal." 


As we were sitting on the edge of a golf course taking our quokka selfies, one of the quokka's crawled right up into Mike's lap and had a seat for 10 minutes or so and let us photograph him all we wanted.  

There are lots of of opportunities to see these adorable mammals.  It's estimated that between 10,000 and 12,000 live on Rottnest.  It would be pretty difficult to spend the day on the Island and not see one.

Cute?  Very.  But they can also be quite the cheeky little critter.  If a quokka is spooked by a predator, it has been known to throw it's joey on the ground and make a run for it.  What mother does this?  Very strange indeed. 

I'm projecting here but I don't think store owners on Rottnest find these little guys quite so charming.  Everywhere in the settlement area, all the shops and restaurants have no quokka signs posted on their half barn doors. I was thinking to myself, how on earth would a quokka get in?  Just a little while later, we were enjoying a nice lunch that was outdoors but still in an enclosed area.  I thought I felt something brush my food and I looked
down and saw a rando quokka at my foot.  Apparently they take on the begging technique that has been perfected by the canine species.  It startled me a bit but I was thrilled to see that it wasn't a snake or a dinner plate sized spider.  The enduring quality of the quokka was growing on me. 

All quokka's aside, there is much, much more to the island.  Rottnest, or the land that time forgot, reminds me of an era that is long gone.  I don't feel they are trying to put this vibe out there like Mackinac Island.  Mackinac is very quaint and boasts that it's bikes only as well but it feels much more touristy with all the Victorian & Colonial houses and don't forget the chocolate stores on every corner.  No, Rottnest doesn't try to put on any airs, it just is.   Walking around the island there are cottages you can rent to stay a long weekend, but they look like the wood paneled bungalow's of the 1970's, I loved it.  Of course there are higher end accommodations available as well. 


The feeling surrounding the island is one of family bonding, nature, and sun.  There are no cars on the island, you can hire a bike or flippers for snorkeling.  Mike and I had gone this route of hiring bikes on a past trip and we decided to not do this with the kids on this trip.  Rottnest can get very hot and as newbies, we didn't bring enough water with while we were biking the first time.  Once you get out of the settlement, the sun gets very intense and there is next to nothing for water refills. Instead, we opted for the hop on hop off bus pass.  The bus drives around the island and drops you off different interesting areas.  There are scores of unique beaches and bays to swim and snorkel in.  

The kids enjoyed exploring the beaches and coves almost as much as posing with the quokkas. We practically had one entire bay to ourselves for awhile. There is also golfing, SCUBA diving, fishing, boating and even sky diving on the island.  We really didn't see any electronic devices of any sort and I read that the simple cottages don't even have T.V.'s.  Perfect.    

After a long day in the sun, it was time to head back.  There's a 25 minute ferry ride that leaves from Freemantle and a 45 minute ferry ride that leaves from Hillarys to choose from.  Hillarys is a northern suburb which is very close to where we live.  The Hillarys Boat Harbour is another attraction in itself.  Imagine a wooden board walk with lots of shopping, cafe's, restaurants, and gelato shops. 

This really is a gem of an island; don't ever pass up an opportunity to explore its beaches and get up close to a happy rat! Cheers!