Rottnest and Quokkas

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Monday was all about Rottnest Island, a limestone and sand island about half an hour by ferry from Freo. No cars - most people bring or hire a bike. I took a pre booked tours, a ride on a wierd little tram thing and walked a bit. It's about 14 kms long so you need some form of transport. The weather was glorious, at least until it was time to go. Rottnest is so called because the Dutch "discoverers" found loads of what they took to be large rats - hence "Ratsnest".

But they were not rats at all. They were Quokkas, a proper marcupial and basically a small kangeroo. The first one I encounters was carrying a " joey" in her pouch (sorry no good picture of that). There are about 10,000 of them on Rotto, and you come across them everywhere. The mantra is: "no touching, no feeding and no cruelty". They are charming little critters and have earned the title "the world's happiest animal".

The island itself is delightful, ringed as it is by many small sandy beaches all untouched by commerical development - because the whole island is a protected reserve. I enjoyed my two hour tour by bus and in the afternoon I went off to do something different.

I took a "tram" up to one of the higest points on the island to explore a WW2 gun implacement... And I'm talking about a BIG GUN. Many British, US and Assie submarines were stationed at Freo in WW2 and they needed protection. An intersting visit to a very well preserved WW2 relic, well curated by a local volunteer guide. Then after an ealry beer I took my late ferry back to Freo. The weather had turned by then and the sky was grey and the crossing was dicidedly lively... No issues though!

All in all a very good day out, which I hope the photos demonstrate.

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Photos

Quokkas get everywhere
This one is being ushered out of a restaurant... He's a daily visitor

BIG GUN
9.2 inch diametrer to be exact