Rottnest Island

I’d been going on about wanting to visit Rottnest Island again ever since I got back to Australia in October 2019. The island, which is only a 30 minute ferry ride from Fremantle south of the city, is famous for its pristine beaches and waters, the lack of cars (only service vehicles are permitted), and its most popular resident: A little animal called the Quokka, which looks like a mini kangaroo.

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Rottnest Island was inhabited by Aboriginal people from at least 30,000 years ago, until rising sea levels separated the island from the mainland of Western Australia about 7000 years ago. The island is called “Wadjemup” in Noongar mythology, meaning “place across the water where the spirits are”. Its current name stems from the Dutch Willem de Vlamingh, who called it “t Eylandt ‘t Rottenest” (“Rats’ Nest Island”) because he thought the quokkas living on the island were giant rats. Afterwards, Rottnest Island was an aboriginal prison and a military base during World War I & II, among other things.

What are quokkas?

If you haven’t heard about quokkas before, this might well be because these little marsupials only live here, on Bald Island near Albany, and in isolated, scattered populations in forest and coastal heath between Perth and Albany. They’re not afraid of people and also due to their happy facial expression, “quokka selfies” are popular when visiting the island – even with celebrities like Chris Hemsworth and Roger Federer. It’s just important not to feed them as it will make them sick – hence the Haribo package below was just to attract the little fella. He didn’t get a treat from us.

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The last time I went over to Rottnest, affectionately called Rotto by the locals, was around ten years ago. At the time I chose to go on a day trip like 70% of all 500,000 annual visitors do. Rottnest Island is around 4 km wide and 11 km long, which makes it the perfect size to cycle around. Ever since then, I’d wanted to come back in better weather so I could enjoy the beautiful beaches and bays. It took us a while to make it, mainly because during COVID, the island was temporarily transformed into a quarantine station for returning travellers from overseas and closed to visitors during this time.

Staying on Rottnest Island

Just in time for end of the summer though, we got an invitation to join Liam’s Uncle Ted and his wife Rebecca in Geordie Bay for their annual Rottnest stay. Accommodation on Rottnest Island is scarce and gets booked up very fast – the current booking times are nine months ahead, and it has been up to 18 months before. I couldn’t wait to spend the weekend there with them.

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Liam and I took the express ferry from the mainland (65 AUD – 75 AUD per person, plus around 15 AUD for the bike per person) and brought our own bicycles with us. It’s also possible to rent bikes off the ferry or on the island. Ferry passengers arrive at the main settlement, Thompsons Bay, from which Geordie Bay is a 2-km bike ride. We hadn’t asked for our bags to be delivered to the accommodation, so I was lucky that Ted volunteered to cycle with my heavy backpack.

The options for staying on Rottnest Island range from a campground and a hostel over “glamping” accommodation in eco-tents to a couple of hotels and cottages with ocean views. We got spoilt rotten by Rebecca and Ted in their Ocean View unit in Geordie Bay. This part of the island isn’t only incredibly beautiful; it’s also a lot more relaxed than e.g. Thompsons Bay which can get very busy during peak season.

The unit, featuring a balcony overlooking the beautiful bay with its tranquil waters and a jetty from which one can jump into the ocean, is a 2-bedroom beach house with an open plan kitchen. My jaw almost dropped when I stood on the balcony. I would happily move over there. However, people living on the island are usually those working there. The 300 strong population of the island can grow to almost 20,000 at one time (including day visitors).

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There is a little “mall” – i.e. a pedestrian (no bike) zone in Thompsons Bay which features a supermarket, bottle shop, bakery, restaurants, and a clothes and souvenir shop, amongst other things. Geordie Bay also has a little supermarket / café, where we had a lovely dinner on our first evening, after having enjoyed the dreamy bay and the crystal-clear waters for the afternoon.

Getting around the island by bus

On the next day, while Liam took off for an early bike ride, Rebecca and I opted for the Island Explorer bus. For 20 AUD a ticket / person, this bus takes visitors all around the island without the need to pedal (it can get quite windy too).

We fuelled up on coffee, croissants and sandwiches in Thompsons Bay before embarking on the journey, for there aren’t any shops in other locations across the island – or so we thought. Rebecca was surprised to see how much had changed in terms of water stations that had been erected in various locations, toilet houses and even a little coffee van at Cape Vlamingh.

We got off the bus at Little Salmon Bay, a great snorkling spot, and walked over to Salmon Bay for a swim, before we got back onto the bus to travel across to Cape Vlamingh and Cathedral Rocks, a popular viewing spot for New Zealand Fur Seals. We only spotted a couple on the rocks, as well as two others floating in the water, one of their pectoral flippers touching their tail flipper. Apparently, this is a typical resting position for these animals. Our little roundtrip ended at Little Armstrong Bay, where we also went for a little dip.

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The next day, Liam and I decided to do a quick cycle around the salt lakes. There are 12 lakes in total with seven being permanent, while parts of the wetlands and five of the salt lakes dry up in summer.  Rottnest’s salt lakes support lots of plant life which are adapted cope with high levels of salt.

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In conclusion, I can only recommend to try and book accommodation in Rottnest Island rather than going there on a day trip. Being able to stay and soak up island life made this trip so much more relaxing and amazing.

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