45. Rottnest Island

Rottnest Island, or Rotto as the Aussies call it, is an island just off the coast from Fremantle. We went for a couple of days..... Caught the ferry from Hilary's Boat Harbour just north of Perth 

And were greeted at Rotto by this pelican atop a lamp post

Rotto is stunningly beautiful...

We stayed for two days, and hired bikes to explore the island. No cars are allowed...

This lighthouse was on the highest point inland

And very near to a WW2 gun battery which was used a a major lookout post to protect Fremantle harbour from enemy attack.

There was a fabulous view across the lakes on the island, looking back towards Perth with its skyline just visible in the distance. We could see right up the coast..... Rotto was of great strategic importance during the war

Some of the lakes are salt flats

We had booked a log cabin to stay the night. It slept 6, so was fine for Ben and I. I don't think I'd want to stay there in the full heat of the summer though.... No fan or air con....

Our little friend the quokka wanted to come into our hut, but we thought best that he didn't.... There are lots of these large part rat part roo like creatures on the island, and they are quite tame and fearless of their human visitors. There's a quokka in the picture above too. They only exist in the wild now on Rotto.... Having been wiped out on the mainland by predators, mainly the European fox introduced by settlers.

 

We went to the beach to watch the sunset..... Wow!

Then later we went back to the beach again with Ben's camera and tripod to take some night pictures of the other lighthouse on the island... You can see the lights of Perth in the background.

Then time for bed..... I got told off for reading with a torch! Ha ha! 

The second day we explored on bikes a bit more, and found a bay to snorkel

This little lizard came and joined us for lunch. It was only peeping out from behind the bike wheel.... And not about to get squashed!

Then it was time to hand in our bikes and catch the ferry back to the mainland, in time to meet some friends in Scarborough for a typical barbie on the beach and to watch the sunset. Another wow....!  

We had a fabulous couple of days on Rotto..... And lots of exercise and fresh air too!