After all our time in & around Perth , we haven't managed to go over to Rottnest Island - we've changed that , we've been and enjoyed it immensely .
We decided to make the most of it and stayed overnight , giving us 2 days to fill in . The ferry left at 8am from Northport Fremantle , so it was an early start , breakfast and go so we could be there on time . Arriving just after 7am gave us plenty of time to unload the bikes and get everything ready , check in and jump on . The office didn't open till 7:30 , so we sat and waited .
Weather was perfect , a lot of cloud , but quite pleasant . Before long we were checked in , bikes loaded and seated on the upstairs outside deck . It seemed a bit strange , but we headed back around to B Shed at Fremantle to pick up all the other passengers etc before heading out to Rottnest Island . There were lot's of ships anchored , waiting to go into port , something you don't see every day was a submarine cruising past .
It only took about 25mins to cruise to the island , we got the bikes and walked down to the start of the jetty and sorted where we'd go 1st . This is Thompson Bay , there would have to be at least 100 berths/bouys for boats to tie up to - it would look like a parking lot when full - there were about 20 boats there today .
Decided to go to Kingstown Barracks - it was close and seemed to be on the way we were heading . It's used for group accommodation - school groups mainly - of which there were a few off .
The island certainly isn't flat , with plenty of hills , the roads seem to go over many dunes and limestone formations . This photo is near Henrietta Point , a bit further around is a shipwreck you can snorkel around , a school group was doing that when we arrived , we didn't stay long .
The Leuwin Current brings warm water from up north , enabling coral and more tropical type fish to grow and survive here . Amongst the seagrass and seaweed there were the odd coral outcrops .
After some lunch we headed off to Parker Point and Little Salmon Bay . It is one of the more popular spots with plenty of people on the beach and in the water snorkelling . The water is very clean & clear - mark this spot for a future visit .
It's not a large bay , but has a lot of area for swimming & snorkelling . Limestone cliffs line parts of the bay meaning the small beach is the only entry point , making it seem busy .
Further around toward Salmon Bay we spotted an Osprey perched on a dead branch - there are 14 breeding pairs here on Rottnest .
Wadjemup Lighthouse stands proudly on the highest point of the island , it is 100feet tall , about 1.5m thick at the bottom and about 1m thick at the top . You can do a tour that takes you to the top for some spectacular views of the island .
This is the southwest corner of the island where there are seal colonies and good whale watching spots are - in season of course.
This is looking over to Oliver Hill and the 2 x 9inch guns . Rottnest was an important place during the war , being a critical place to protect the port of Fremantle from possible attack from the sea . There's also an airstrip that you can do joy flights and parachute from if you feel so inclined.
Just beside the lighthouse is this Signal Tower , used again during the war to signal the mainland . It was very difficult due to the 23klm distance to the mainland to communicate with flags & signals , until they got a Heliotrope . This device uses a mirror to reflect sunlight to a given point and they could communicate with it .
On another small mound about 100 m away was the radio and observation tower , used to communicate with the warships & submarines .
And of course the island is also famous for these little things - Quokka's !! They're around in lot's of places and certainly aren't afraid of people . You are not supposed to touch or feed them , and can be fined if you do !
After going over to Oliver Hill - where the guns are - we headed for the information centre to check into our cabin . We had cabin 706 , we saw cabins up to number 838 on our ride around - I'm sure there are more than that - there's so much accomodation here !!
This was sunset over Garden Lake . There are many salt lakes on the island .
Lyn did her best to catch the little ball of sun , but just couldn't keep hold of it .
We woke early and got organised for another busy day riding around again . This is Pinky's Beach and there's a new Discovery Park just about to open with glamping tents - nothing else - they start at about $160 a night and go up quite a bit more for the top end glamping tents .
Our submarine made another appearance as it sailed off into the distance - it was quite a way out from us and the wind was blowing fairly well , but you could hear it easily - it makes a fair bit of noise .
I managed to spot this silver spider - it was about 100mm from front to back legs .
Heading west we came to Longreach Bay , another popular anchorage for boats .
There are so many other little coves & beaches , Geordie Bay is one of the bigger ones with lots more accomodation and a shop etc .
We stopped and snorkelled & swam at a couple , here's some of the fish etc .
I may have stumbled over a leafy sea dragon whilst snorkelling , I'll leave that up to your imagination .
After dodging a couple of more school groups we headed back to Thompson Bay & the main shops etc . These 2 photos are " The Quod " - it was used as a prison for the indigenous .
As we'd cycled ourselves out , we found a spot to sit and take in the scenery for a while while we waited for our ferry back to Fremantle at 6:30pm .
Well what a couple of days we've had , and to top it off we had a great sunset over Rottnest to look at on the way back !!
That's it , see ya .
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