Another fantastic day in WA, and some new experiences for the girls. They had both their first Bus and Boat rides!!
We got picked up from the caravan park at about 9:30 on a mini bus that took us to the ferry terminal in Fremantle, the girls were very excited as it was their first time on a bus, and they thought it was great. Once we arrived at the terminal, we had just enough time to buy our tickets before boarding the boat and heading for Rottnest.
Was a pretty smooth and quick trip across only taking about 20 minutes, and we even got to see a couple of whales on the way!
Now the problem with Rottnest is there is so much to do, and as you arrive at 11am and have to be back on the boat at 4pm, there just isn’t enough time to do and see everything!
We purchased a bus ticket that allowed us to catch a bus that ran on a 45 minute circuit around the island, and thought the best thing to do first was to take a trip around and see the island. From there we would know the best beaches to stop by in the afternoon for some snorkeling.
Once again the girls loved the experience as this time it was a big coach, and sitting up the back, they entertained the passengers with a rendition of “The wheels on the bus go round and round…..” Unfortunatley they ran out of things to sing about before we even made it half way around, and had to resort to looking for Quokkers, the native animal on the island, something between a Rat and a Kangaroo.
We didn’t see any from the bus, but those on the left side were lucky enough to see a snake on the path before it scurried into the bush.
After the bus trip, we headed to The Dome for lunch, which is a cross between the old Dennys and the Keg. Apparently it is very popular in WA. It was about this time that we realized that time was short, and we would struggle to catch a bus back to the south side for a short snorkel before catching the next bus 45 minutes later to get back in time for the ferry…. Luckily one of the shopkeepers recommended that we head to The Basin on the North side which was only a 1km walk, was better protected from the wind, and wouldn’t waste time on the bus.
So we grabed our gear and started the long hike to the beach. It was along this trail that we first came in contact with the quokkers, and for a nocturnal animal that is hard to find…. we sure found plenty!! Glad we didn’t pay for the quokker tour!
We finally made it to the beach, and had a great time snorkeling around the rocks, gullies and ledges of the reef. There were plenty of fish, and I really wish I still had my underwater camera.
We also had some time up our sleeves to build some sandcastles and have a paddle in the water before heading back for more playing with quokkers and getting on the boat for the trip back to the mainland.
Was a little rougher coming back as the Fremantle “doctor” was in and made the water a little choppy.
Judith was also very kind to buy me another stubby holder on the island for my collection 🙂
We returned to the caravan afterwards for a rest where poor old Jess managed to get stung by a bee!! The poor girl, if it was going to happen to anyone, it would happen to her! She did come good after awhile though, and we headed into Fremantle for some Fish n Chips. Now given all the walking and exercise we did on the island today, we thought we would indulge a little, so after Andrew had spoilt all the kids with ice-cream, the adults had some very healthy (yea right), and very tasty desserts to finish off what was a wonderful day 🙂
