Thierings on Tour

Today was the day for the girls to get their selfie with a quokka and we were all very excited to head over to Rottnest Island for the day.

The caravan park staff said that parking was no issue, but we still left with time to spare to grab a coffee before the ferry. Well, lucky we did, because parking was a complete nightmare with most areas being 2-3hr parking only and the car parks having too low a clearance to fit the Cruiser with our roof racks and gear. After circling for 30 minutes and raising stress levels to new heights for the parents we were finally in a spot and heading for a coffee.

Scarly discovered a dragon fly on the step and we knew it was going to be a great day from here!!

The ferry over was super busy with it being school holidays and close to the weekend, but we passed the time with chats and silly photos.

Once on Rottnest island we headed straight to the settlement/town area to find some quokkas. There were plenty of city quokkas happy to oblige for a quick snap and the girls were thrilled!

From there we walked across to a beach area called The Basin and had a lovely time at the beach there. Whilst the water was very clear, it was also very freezing. All of us had a quick dip, before jumping out to dry in the sun. The big girls loved splashing in the waves for ages though… a truly lovely spot of the earth on Rottnest island!

Then we explored the lighthouse and a few lookouts around Pinky’s beach before heading back in for lunch. By the time we had walked back, we would have only covered less than a quarter of the island, but Chris’ ankle was getting progressively more swollen since the bee sting, so we didn’t want to push the walking. I can see why people with older kids hire bikes to ride around, it’s a great way to cover the 22km round trip on the island. There is so much to see and do.

We stopped for a delicious lunch (seafood pasta for me) and then got some more quokka selfies. The kids made time for the playground (a necessity wherever we go) and then we headed for a bus tour around the island. A much more friendly way for young families to get around. Some of the beaches on the south coast of Rottnest were spectacular! 

Scarly had a good snooze as we cruised around, learning about the island, history and geography of it. Apparently the population of quokkas is 12,000! Now that’s hard to fathom with no more than a couple of hundred in town, but Abby explained that the country quokkas are truly nocturnal and you would never see them driving or riding around in the day. Makes sense! The island also got its name from a Dutch explorer who wrote in his diary about giant rats with two heads inhabiting the island, this of course being quokkas with joeys in their pouch. He was too scared to stay on the island with his men and instead opted to sleep back on the ship. Lucky we know better and appreciate these cute “rats”! 

Abby talked about all the ship wrecks that have happened around the island and how there are now two lighthouses to avoid any more. The last of the lighthouses was automated in 1977, yet the lighthouse keeper still managed to persuade the government to pay for him to stay on the island for an extra 3 years to man the automated lighthouse. Ha, what a deal for this guy…

We stopped on the West Coast and all hopped out to admire the beautiful views. The crashing waves and the colour of the ocean were so impressive and there were whales and dolphins everywhere that day, jumping out and breaching. One of the beaches also had a cool osprey nest and we saw the osprey wondering around looking for food for its chicks. 

On our way back we explored the northern part of the island, all the stunning beaches and you could tell how busy it would get around the hotter months with people coming from Perth & Fremantle. The moorings on the island have a 10 year plus wait time! Oh and the island has a school with a student count of 10 students, so similarly, the waitlist to teach on the island is also around 10 years. 

A huge day of exploring, learning, admiring. The ferry ride back was just as busy, but went much faster and we were back at our caravan park for an early night.

Kms travelled – 18