Rottnest Island,WA

---

We have been in Perth about a month now, so we decided to get the ferry over to Rottnest Island. It cost $100 per person for travel, ferries, snorkles and bike hire. We got up at 5.30am ready to be picked up outside Billabong at 6.20am. You can imagine how hard this was for me seeing as I haven't been up this early since school.

We were taken to Hillerays port, where we were given our snorkles and bikes. We got on the ferry, and slept for the 45 minute journey over to the island. When we arrived we went for breakfast at Dome (Australia's version of Wetherspoons). It was expensive and our food came out minutes after ordering, we were sceptical. You can't cook eggs in that amount of time let alone a full english. Two big black crows and a swarm of flies also joined us for breakfast, which was nice. The weather was cold and windy, we were tired and grouchy, all in all it wasn't the best start to our day of adventure.

Once we finished our lovely breakfast we set off on our bikes. After a good hour or so we soon discovered why they give you an early start. The island was huge, well, maybe not huge but it was pretty big. It had some amazing sights and beautiful bays. We snorkled for a while and saw lots of colourful fish. If we had gone out to sea further we would have seen a lot more, however the visibilty of the water was poor because of the wind, so we will definitely come back to try it again. I blame the visibility, truth is i am a massive wuss and since we have come to Australia all I associate the sea with is sharks.

Later on we stumbled upon a lovely family of quokkas. We were so happy to see them and I think they were just as happy to see us. They were that adorable we gave them ALL of our water. This wasn't the best idea we have ever had, because unknown to us there was no water fountains on the side of the island we were on. The heat was scorching, and we were extremely thirsty. Riding our bikes in that heat, we could have been hallucinating for all i know. After a couple of hours of no water, we found a lighthouse. I questioned if it was a mirage, but alas it was real. James cycled to the top and like a true gent provided us with a bottle of water each. It was a miraculous moment, it tasted so good. After necking it, we carried on our journey. The island has lots of hills, and it was probably the most exercise any of us had done in weeks. We cycled for a few hours stopping at various spots, taking lots of pictures and having top bants. Feeling trim, we went to a pub and had a well deserved pint.

Our ferry back was at 4.30pm, so we headed to the pier for the boat. We slept like babies on the way back. When we finally arrived back at the hostel we got showers then went to the pool for evening drinks. It was Ray's last night in Perth, otherwise I probably wouldn't have bothered as I was too sleepy. So, taking one for the team I cracked open the red wine. It wasn't a good idea. A day in the blistering heat with no water was beginning to catch up on me. To look at me I had definitely caught the sun. I looked like a tomato and Hannah had burnt to a crisp. A classic case of sun stroke, fools. Feeling ill, we took ourselves to bed. James stayed out and brought us a midnight feast of McDonalds chicken nuggets and chips to cheer us up.
Goodnight ??

---