Rottnest

Rottnest Island, or "Rotto" as it's known round here, is a tiny car-free island, dotted with secluded tropical bays. It's only 19km offshore from Freemantle, so it's a popular weekend getaway for locals. It measures 11km by 4.5km, so getting around by bike is the only way to see the island properly. The journey has been long-awaiting as the school-leavers or 'schoolies' have been in residence for the past couple of weeks and aparently it's a terrible idea to go anywhere near this time as it's just one big teenage party. As we boarded the ferry in Perth with our mountain bikes, a couple of dolphins were swimming right next to us in the harbour, waiting for the dolphin-cruise to depart.

A Dutch Explorer called Willem de Vlamingh claimed discovery of the island in 1696, and named it "Rat's Nest," due to the large population of what he perceived to be enormous rodents. They were actually quokkas, which are very cute little things which look like a cross between a wombat and a tiny kangaroo. Some of them are very tame, but there are often report of people playing "quokka soccer" with them but now they are protected which is good as they are very cute. There are somewhere between 8,000 and 12,000 on Rotto and populations are found in the forests of the mainland.

There is actually evidence of Aboriginal occupation dating from 7,000 years ago and from 1838 until 1920, the inhabitants of Rottnest were Aboriginal prisoners from the mainland. The island is still a sacred site to the Noongar tribe as hundreds of their tribe died there. The prison cells are now hotel rooms which are supposedly haunted. There are a couple of other places to stay on the island, but most people camp out. So while there is very little to do on the island apart from cycle aound and admire the views, it's a very relaxing place... or it would be if it weren't for the flies!

The flies in Australia are totally rank and are presnt in their millions on hot days. They come in from the desert and head straight for your mouth, nose or eyes, deperate as they are for moisture. You might look ridiculous wearing a fly-net, but they are a bloody good idea all things considered. Otherwise, the diving is supposed to be good as is the swimming and snorkelling so we'll get round to that one day soon. There a several shipwrecks which are shallow enough to be viewed snorkelling but you need a boat to access them.

After catching the ferry back to Perth in the evening, we went in search of a quiet drink along the Esplanade. However, our search brought us to the Lucky Shag which was full of Sunday all-day drinkers and I disovered to my horror that on my way to the toilet, someone had vomited into my bike helmet. Unfortunately, although I'd done a rough clean-up of the situation, I still had to wear the helmet home!

Not that we got very far home, because we saw a throng of people gathering for some open-air event in the park by the Swan Bells. As it was free, Andy suggested we stay to listen to Symphony in the City. This necessitated us buying more beers and lying down in the grass with more people than I thought actually lived in Perth. It was very pleasant anyway and I think I fell asleep, having had a great action-packed weekend. It's such a shame anybody has to work.