Quokka Quokka
We spent the day yesterday on Rottnest Island - a wildlife reserve just off the coast.
The ferry ride over is only about half an hour from Fremantle, luckily there was no wind. My tour guide suffers from sea sickness, so I was really hoping for calm waters - seems the last time she had made the trip in rough waters and they announced that they might not be able to dock, she told her 3 young boys to get ready to jump overboard since there was no way she was going back. I was glad that this wasn't an issue since I would really feel bad about leaving her behind in the water by herself - no way I was jumping over.
On the way over, we saw a humpback whale! It was just swimming along beside the boat just off shore, beauty - call me Trishmael!
The island is incredibly beautiful with crystal clear water, rocky coves, white sandy beaches, coral reefs and 10,000 Quokkas.
All around the island are coves like this. There are all kinds of birds including Osprey and all kinds of fish and other colorful sea creatures. Many people come over from Perth in the summer to fish - crayfish and abalone seem to be main attractions.
We stopped at a couple little coves in the morning and then had lunch on the beach - I finally had a Lamington which my friend Beth had said I must try while I'm here and it was very tasty, white cake covered in chocolate and coconut - mmmm.
More Australian wildflowers.
There are no cars allowed on the island - you either take the shuttle or rent a bike or walk to get from beach to beach. However, despite the 'no car' rule, while we were at one of the coves, we saw four minivans drive up and start moving large branches and crayfish traps around - what's up with all these cars, how is it possible! Seems they were cleaning up from the day before when they were there shooting for the 'Amazing Race' show - damn, if we'd just been a day earlier, we could have been on TV - we could have been the crazy quokka ladies waving in the background.
After lunch we did some snorkeling along the reef - I saw a sting ray, sea slugs, some snapper and lots of other 'reef fish' which I think is Australian slang for - 'I don't have a clue, but they hang out by the reef'.
Snorkeling at 'The Basin'
Can you spot the floating tourist?
Rottnest was founded by the Dutch who named it after the thousands of little 'rat' like animals that inhabited the island. Quokkas are much bigger and cuter than rats, but they are very rodent-like.
Like all the dogs I have met in Australia, these Quokkas also seem to be drawn to me.
We both needed a drink after our long and tiring day of snorkeling, swimming, walking and gereral loafing about.
The ferry back to shore was very full so I had to stand and the back of the boat - it was a bit like being on the log ride for 30 minutes. Depite the sogginess, it was a great day.
The ferry ride over is only about half an hour from Fremantle, luckily there was no wind. My tour guide suffers from sea sickness, so I was really hoping for calm waters - seems the last time she had made the trip in rough waters and they announced that they might not be able to dock, she told her 3 young boys to get ready to jump overboard since there was no way she was going back. I was glad that this wasn't an issue since I would really feel bad about leaving her behind in the water by herself - no way I was jumping over.
On the way over, we saw a humpback whale! It was just swimming along beside the boat just off shore, beauty - call me Trishmael!
The island is incredibly beautiful with crystal clear water, rocky coves, white sandy beaches, coral reefs and 10,000 Quokkas.
All around the island are coves like this. There are all kinds of birds including Osprey and all kinds of fish and other colorful sea creatures. Many people come over from Perth in the summer to fish - crayfish and abalone seem to be main attractions.
We stopped at a couple little coves in the morning and then had lunch on the beach - I finally had a Lamington which my friend Beth had said I must try while I'm here and it was very tasty, white cake covered in chocolate and coconut - mmmm.
More Australian wildflowers.There are no cars allowed on the island - you either take the shuttle or rent a bike or walk to get from beach to beach. However, despite the 'no car' rule, while we were at one of the coves, we saw four minivans drive up and start moving large branches and crayfish traps around - what's up with all these cars, how is it possible! Seems they were cleaning up from the day before when they were there shooting for the 'Amazing Race' show - damn, if we'd just been a day earlier, we could have been on TV - we could have been the crazy quokka ladies waving in the background.
After lunch we did some snorkeling along the reef - I saw a sting ray, sea slugs, some snapper and lots of other 'reef fish' which I think is Australian slang for - 'I don't have a clue, but they hang out by the reef'.
Snorkeling at 'The Basin'
Can you spot the floating tourist?Rottnest was founded by the Dutch who named it after the thousands of little 'rat' like animals that inhabited the island. Quokkas are much bigger and cuter than rats, but they are very rodent-like.
Like all the dogs I have met in Australia, these Quokkas also seem to be drawn to me.
We both needed a drink after our long and tiring day of snorkeling, swimming, walking and gereral loafing about.
The ferry back to shore was very full so I had to stand and the back of the boat - it was a bit like being on the log ride for 30 minutes. Depite the sogginess, it was a great day.
posted by trisharicci at 8:17 PM
1 Comments:
Oh how I miss those lamingtons. So glad you got to try one.
It sounds like you're having a swell time.
Love your haircut!
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