Rottnest (Wadjemup to the Aboriginees who were there as early as 20,000 years ago) got its name from the Dutch who called this island off Fremantle “Rottenest” for rats’ nest, although in modern Dutch that would have been spelled “Rattenest”. Small detail. They named it after these really strange-looking marsupials presently known as Quokkas, that have a head and tail like a rat and a body of a kangaroo, including the hind legs. They’re about the size of a cat and they are literally all over the island, and nowhere else in the world (we heard later there are some remote populations elsewhere in Australia), walking between people looking for leftovers or handouts. There’s a $50 fine for feeding them. Rottnest used to be attached to the mainland some 7,000 years ago, before rising ocean levels
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