Day at Rottnest Island

Hello November, my old friend. For some of us, that means the impending descent into winter madness, while elsewhere in the world (like here in Australia), November means both summer. Oh, and Christmas. Still can't get my head around that one. I mean, it's warm! In November! And they're already preparing for Christmas here! Oy.

Anyhow.

This post is a few weeks overdue. I mean, zeesh. The four of us finally ventured out to the famed Rottnest Island the previous weekend, and spent the day roaming about. It was a good day to visit--not too cool and not too warm. It was a bit overcast in the morning, but it brightened up nicely by the afternoon.

We got an early start; we took the 8:45 am ferry down the Swan River through Perth--a journey that took an hour--all the way over to Fremantle. From there, we carried on across the bay to Rottnest, which made for a nice bumpy ride on the waves. Harrison, meanwhile, did his toddler duty of providing the entertainment on the ride--he wandered around with his bouncy ball, and made friends with other passengers, both young and old. (No matter where he goes, he always attracts attention.)

I didn't know what to expect when we arrived, but I was pleasantly surprised by how pretty a place it was--lots of scenic views, turquoise water, and craggy cliffs. It was even warm enough to go snorkelling, although we didn't do that. Instead, we took a bus and had a brief tour of the island. You could also bike around the island if you wanted to.

There was whale watching available, but with Harrison being too young to go on the boat, we had to settle for watching them from land. Not that we minded it, because it made for some spectacular scenery. Plus, we could see them spouting off in the far off distance. (If I had been able to get a great shot of a whale breaching, I would have definitely come up with a caption like this.) 

We saw a ton of seals swimming around in one bay, but I sadly could not get a close enough focus on them with my camera. Lucky enough, there was a binocular stand to get a closer look at them.

In the afternoon we stopped off at the restaurant to have lunch before heading back. There was a peacock around, just struttin' her/his stuff, so naturally I had to get a picture of it.

Someone was clearly enjoying themselves.

The island was overrun by quokkas, known for being one of the happiest creatures on earth. Not to mention probably the cutest. We saw plenty along the side of the road (alive, I should note) and people petting them, because they are quite tame. I wanted to get up close with them, and I did, but only before we had to leave.  

Overall, a really nice day! It was great to get out and visit Rottnest and experience the coastal beauty.