Welcome to Quokka World

Hi all,

Yesterday we took our bikes over to Rottnest island to have a look around. The coastline of the island was dramatic, with limestone cliffs and outcrops surrounding beaches with beautiful clear water.

We snorkeled in Little Salmon Bay, where there were underwater markers to show the snorkelling trail with interesting info on each marker about the environment at that marker. The water was the clearest we had seen in WA, with lots of fish, big and small. Back in shore an English lad showed me an octopus he had found, trapped in a sheltered rock pool by the tide. The lad was also very excited by a starfish he had found, and looking at it I could see why…….it was larger then my hand and was a vivid red colour, begging to be noticed.

Onward we travelled. A volunteer guide had told us that if we approach Acaccia shrubs quietly, and look beneath them, we may see a Quokka. He went on to say that they are predominately nocturnal by nature, but because of the abundance of fresh water and food, and also the lack of predators (no foxes or cats on the island…..with the only predators we could think of being large birds of prey and snakes) they can sometimes be seen at day. Well, it was not long before we found some. We stopped by the cycle way and wandered into the scrub a little and there were two of the cutest faces you have ever seen. Not scared of us at all they went about their business foraging for food. Emma approached one and squatted down. The inquisitive Quokka, probably after a free handout of food, approached Emma and got as close to sniff her leg and touch the camera. The result is the close up of the Quokka staring straight down the lens of the camera. We saw several more of the little fellas going about their business whilst we were on our 25klm+ cycle around the island.

We spotted some surfers off the NW end of the island surfing a deep water reef……to me, it didn’t look that good to warrant being a lure for a great white, considering there have been many sightings of large pointers this coastline this summer.

We stopped and had lunch at Parakeet Beach and then onto the end of our ride. There are no cars allowed on the island, only bikes, but if you don’t want to exert too much energy you can jump on a tour bus. The ride was not too demanding, well not as demanding as Magnetic Island off QLD, but we had to reconcile that probably not everyone came out on the boat that morning and rode around the whole island.

To reward ourselves, we stopped at a café close to the port where we were to catch our boat home at 4pm. We both had a large gourmet iced coffee from DOME. Back on the boat to Freemantle and I had organized my brother, Marcus to meet us at Dutch Inn (a beach with a reef break just south of Cottesloe) with my sailing gear, because we noticed that the seabreeze had picked up as we were crossing the channel. I sailed with my new 5.8m sail which worked a treat on my updated board.

We got home at about 6.30, both tired and sunned out! Anyway Emma cooked a terrific stirfry. We then sat and watched a movie…..The Exorcism of Emily Rose……a very interesting story based on real events.

Enough from me, here are some pictures

Love, Ad and Em xox



Here is one of the intrepid travellers over looking the clear waters of the island. The cycle way trailing off to the west.







Emma about to throw on the goggles and go for a swim with the fish

Taking my picture?........Go ahead.....make my day!