Rottnest Island ("Rotto" to the locals) is a national park with no cars (a couple buses and service vehicles), lots of amazing beaches with great snorkeling and apparently every yacht in Western Australia moored offshore. Rottnest was so named by the Dutch who thought the cute, adorable (and unseen) quokkas were in fact rats (“rat’s nest”). Low and flat, it is a wonderful, peaceful place for a day at the beach, fishing, or cycling. Disregarding the welcoming beaches and sandbar topography, it is comparable to Catalina (offshore in Los Angeles) in that tourists and yacht owners visit it, but cars don’t. Some come for the day, others for a weekend (I don’t think anyone could stick around for a week, but some people surprise me). Theoretically, Rottnest is warmer when Perth is cooler and visa-versa. My single data point does not support that.
You can get to Rottnest Island via three ports: Perth, Fremantle, and this little harbor just north of town called Hillary’s Harbour. We booked ourselves on that one up north of town. They picked us up and I knew Alex would enjoy that portion of our trip, because he loves buses. No surprise, he loved the bus to Hillary’s. We rented a bike and a child trailer from these folks then took the fast ferry over. The ferry itself was fun – about 45 minutes and Alex was in a good mood. We got off and grabbed our bike & Alex’s shaded ride. The better you know me, the better you know that I am something less than an elite athlete. That said, cycling is one thing I am pretty good at and I like to bike around San Francisco. I figured biking around a relatively flat island with a little trailer would be no problem. Simply put, it was not. In the tradition of second rate athletes around the world, I will go ahead and say there was something wrong with the bike. It was a struggle on a flat surface. If I can haul myself up and around San Francisco, a little trailer and a sleeping child should not be that much harder. On the bus ride back into town, one woman complained that one of her hand brakes never would fully release – lifting the front end and spinning a wheel gave her two revolutions then an abrupt stop. That’s my story too, although I didn’t think to actually test my theory.
In a related story to all this whining, I was absolutely beat halfway around this 16km flat island. We got to a really pretty beach at the end of a long downhill and we took it. A nice lady watched Alex and I snorkeled for upwards of 5 minutes (I keep mentioning women here: it is not nice to reference a woman’s age, but in the interest of keeping Aneta’s mind at ease, I will estimate this lady was in her late 60’s). Alex and I jumped around at the water’s edge then he got tired of it. He walked up the beach and promptly fell face first into the sand, getting sand in his eyes. We washed it off in the surf, so he walked up and jumped back in the sand, we washed it off in the nearby shower and he jumped in the sand again. Marginally frustrated, I rinsed him off one more time and carried him to his rickshaw. He fell asleep within 5 minutes of that stop and woke several hours later as we were about to board the boat. The video and most of the photos were from an early stop at another gorgeous bay. If this video loads, it is because it was from my digital camera and the file is far smaller. The last one, with the wrecked-looking bike, was from Stark Bay, named after one of RoadTripOutback's frequent visitors (the bay was packed with yachts, but a photo of the rickshaw was enough). I was clever enough to cover Alex with sunscreen, give him a long-sleeved shirt and long pants, and put him in a shady cart, but forgot to put sunscreen on the back of my hands and my feet. Thus, I now have bright red hands (but not forearms) and tiger striped feet (thanks to my sandals). Enjoy the image!
You can get to Rottnest Island via three ports: Perth, Fremantle, and this little harbor just north of town called Hillary’s Harbour. We booked ourselves on that one up north of town. They picked us up and I knew Alex would enjoy that portion of our trip, because he loves buses. No surprise, he loved the bus to Hillary’s. We rented a bike and a child trailer from these folks then took the fast ferry over. The ferry itself was fun – about 45 minutes and Alex was in a good mood. We got off and grabbed our bike & Alex’s shaded ride. The better you know me, the better you know that I am something less than an elite athlete. That said, cycling is one thing I am pretty good at and I like to bike around San Francisco. I figured biking around a relatively flat island with a little trailer would be no problem. Simply put, it was not. In the tradition of second rate athletes around the world, I will go ahead and say there was something wrong with the bike. It was a struggle on a flat surface. If I can haul myself up and around San Francisco, a little trailer and a sleeping child should not be that much harder. On the bus ride back into town, one woman complained that one of her hand brakes never would fully release – lifting the front end and spinning a wheel gave her two revolutions then an abrupt stop. That’s my story too, although I didn’t think to actually test my theory.
In a related story to all this whining, I was absolutely beat halfway around this 16km flat island. We got to a really pretty beach at the end of a long downhill and we took it. A nice lady watched Alex and I snorkeled for upwards of 5 minutes (I keep mentioning women here: it is not nice to reference a woman’s age, but in the interest of keeping Aneta’s mind at ease, I will estimate this lady was in her late 60’s). Alex and I jumped around at the water’s edge then he got tired of it. He walked up the beach and promptly fell face first into the sand, getting sand in his eyes. We washed it off in the surf, so he walked up and jumped back in the sand, we washed it off in the nearby shower and he jumped in the sand again. Marginally frustrated, I rinsed him off one more time and carried him to his rickshaw. He fell asleep within 5 minutes of that stop and woke several hours later as we were about to board the boat. The video and most of the photos were from an early stop at another gorgeous bay. If this video loads, it is because it was from my digital camera and the file is far smaller. The last one, with the wrecked-looking bike, was from Stark Bay, named after one of RoadTripOutback's frequent visitors (the bay was packed with yachts, but a photo of the rickshaw was enough). I was clever enough to cover Alex with sunscreen, give him a long-sleeved shirt and long pants, and put him in a shady cart, but forgot to put sunscreen on the back of my hands and my feet. Thus, I now have bright red hands (but not forearms) and tiger striped feet (thanks to my sandals). Enjoy the image! Note: I just saw the weather map http://vortex.plymouth.edu/uschill.gif and feel guilty complaining about sunburn. Sorry about that, especially those of you in the Midwest & Northeast.
“Rotto” Summary: beautiful amazing beaches perfect for swimming and snorkeling. Persistent flies – possible Western Australia All-Stars - on the south side of the island (it might help if I moved faster). Good call for a day trip or an overnight with a few friends, just spin those bike wheels before you rent the bike.
As usual, Alex was the star of the show on the bus ride back. Everyone seems to think the trip is pretty cool and nobody can believe I have made it this far this fast. Glad to be taking it slow from here.
Next: putz around in Perth one more day
“Rotto” Summary: beautiful amazing beaches perfect for swimming and snorkeling. Persistent flies – possible Western Australia All-Stars - on the south side of the island (it might help if I moved faster). Good call for a day trip or an overnight with a few friends, just spin those bike wheels before you rent the bike.
As usual, Alex was the star of the show on the bus ride back. Everyone seems to think the trip is pretty cool and nobody can believe I have made it this far this fast. Glad to be taking it slow from here.
Next: putz around in Perth one more day
4 comments:
Thanks for sharing that photo in such high resolution. Looking at it on my 30 inch cinema screen, I am captivated by the exquisite painterly shades of blue, and almost feel like I'm there.
passing on a comment form a colleague:
...... and I love Jim's blog, what an amazing adventure - for both of them. Perhaps a book to come out of it ?:)
Any one willing to pay cash for this?
Passing on comment from my mom:
...Na baba sladurchenceto, kakvo mi e angelche!
Jimmy,
How you going ?
Great blogging.
Enjoying your posts.
Happy B-Day !
Hello to Alex !
Cheers,
Tim
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