Monday, October 29, 2012

Loving this week - Rottnest Island, Western Australia

I am linking this into cityhippyfarmgirl's 'loving this week' post. She has shared four previous 'loving this week' entries, which are well worth viewing if you want some inspiration in your day, cause to smile, or just like looking at beautiful photography.

I was a little unsure about doing a non-food post, given this is the month of vegan food. However, 20 consecutive posts on food must be my record for staying on a single topic and my blogging nature wants to veer off topic now! I am hoping that others don't mind the wandering. I will be posting my final Vegan MoFo recipe tomorrow, before a wrap up post as the month concludes on Wednesday.


Rottnest Island, Western Australia

I was delighted with the timing of the 'loving this week' theme, because it fit perfectly with my thoughts at the end of the weekend. Yesterday, you see, we were fortunate to have a day at Rottnest Island, an 11km long, A-class reserve located 19km off the coast of Western Australia. It is a 40 minute ferry ride from the Perth coastline and an extremely popular spot in summer - we squeezed our visit in before the peak busy season got going.

Rottnest is relatively unique in that it is free of cars (mostly - there are shuttle buses around the island and vans for essential services), making it a haven for bikes and laid back exploring. It is also free of residents, with the only people living on the island being those employed in essential services there, such as police, nursing staff, and rangers. There is a small school for children of worker residents, but it generally has 10 - 15 primary school aged students at most. No one is allowed to own property personally, and all land and buildings are managed by the Rottnest Island Authority. They also own and oversee the holiday accommodation, which makes up most of the buildings on the island. In effect, it is a self-contained community that changes every time a ferry arrives or departs.

Planning our cycle route of the island

I gave Mr Bite return ferry tickets for the island last Christmas, but with our whirlwind year it has taken us to now to get to using them. Fortunately for us, my sister works part-time at one of the ferry companies, which means we get generous discounts on crossings (and free bike hire - thanks again, darling!). If you don't have such connections, it is an expensive day out, but definitely a worthwhile one as a treat. It had been 10 years since I visited, and longer since Mr Bite had been, so we felt it was a well-timed trip.

We arrived on the island at 10.30am, and set off to cycle the perimeters of it. We didn't quite do the full loop - there is a narrow out and back stretch at one end - but saw plenty of gorgeous beaches on our circuit. We finished with a dip in one of the bays and the water was incredibly cold, but a refreshing finish to what had been a hot cycling stretch.


In addition to beaches, Rottnest is home to quokkas, which are small herbivore marsupials that are common on Rottnest but rare outside of the island. They are quite oblivious to humans, being so used to them, and wander the streets happily.


We also saw two snakes on our trip, which were less welcome on our path!, but they didn't seem interested in us either.


As a child, the food options on Rottnest were limited to an alcohol-focused hotel, fancy lodge restaurant, bakery, fast food chicken and chips, and two small supermarkets. We were interested to note that things have changed over the past decade or so, with the chicken / chips shop being replaced by a Subway, the hotel being renovated, and three new options being added: a seafood restaurant, a casual cafe with gluten free options, and a Dome Cafe (Dome being a Western Australian institution akin to Starbucks or Gloria Jeans, but with more food). We bought lunch at Subway and afternoon snacks at Dome.


I am not usually a beach person and yesterday gave me more sun than I have had in a while, but it was a gorgeous day and a reminder that it only takes one free day to have a holiday-like experience. We have had lots of holiday experiences recently, and I felt very blessed to have another day to ourselves yesterday. Rottnest is a definite perk of living in Australia, and one that I appreciate having so nearby.

Have you had any days out recently? Or do you have any favourite places to visit when you do manage an excursion?


This (non-food!) post is part of my Vegan Month of Food contributions for October 2012. 

24 comments:

  1. I absolutely love the quokkas. I've seen them at Taronga Zoo and they always mention how they're native to Rottnest Island. Such cute little critters xx

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    1. I had no idea quokkas were in zoos elsewhere in Australia - they don't make it into the Perth one due to Rottnest! - it's nice to think that others get to experience them too. They are definitely cute :-)

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  2. Very beautiful- the beach looks like it could be on a postcard. I grew up on the beach, but it looked very different. I love the blue water- makes me want to go swimming!

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    1. I am always interested by differences in beaches around the world. The sand and surrounding scenery and water colours always seem to be slightly different. The blue water is quite enticing here!

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  3. Quokkas! I loved those as a kid. I'm not much of a beach person either, but that's probably because swimming gives me the heebiejeebies. Walking along the water, up to my calves, in the sun, with friends... that sounds perfect right now ('tis VERY COLD here, but yet not even cold by Canadian standards).

    Long story short, I am glad for the respite from food posts, my dear! Thank you for sharing this.

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    1. Thank you so much Hannah - I have been feeling a bit twitchy about repeated food posts so I'm glad others like variety too! (Although I hope your desire for variety is just that and not something more sinister - not that I can quite imagine what the sinister thing would be, but you never know.) There's likely to be more respite in November :)

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    2. Sinister?!?!? What on earth do you think of me?! Heavens to betsy! :)

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    3. I think it may be suggestive of my own anxious traits than anything to do with you :) Which means, of course, that in the last week I have revealed low self-esteem and anxiety in my comment exchanges with you. I may need to engage in some self-reflection :P

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  4. oh those pictures are all just beautiful! love the bright blue skies!

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    1. Blue skies are something I think we're quite lucky with here. I forget how beautiful they are until I visit places that don't have them!

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  5. Beautiful Kari. Such a stunning place to be able to spend the day at. That water is so inviting, and I think you would be mad not to ride your bike around. You would miss out on seeing so many things, (even if there were snakes...eek!)

    Thank you for linking up :-)

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    1. Thank you for such a wonderfully timed post :) I'm glad you enjoyed these pictures - it is a great spot and lovely for children too.

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  6. Rottnest Island looks gorgeous, what a nice way to spend a day! I've heard so much about it from the man as he used to holiday there as a child, so it was lovely to see your photos.

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    1. When you eventually visit, you will have to go across :-) It is definitely a quintessential WA spot, I imagine most children growing up here have fond memories of it. I am glad you liked the photos!

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  7. oooh, fun, i feel like i went on a little cyber-vacation! ;) thanks girl, and that little furry guy is WAY too cute...i want one! :P

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    1. Thank you Cait! The quokkas are gorgeous, and so friendly - a nice trait in animals :P

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  8. What a beautiful place! :) What a great way to spend the day too. :)

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  9. I was SOO excited when I read this post! Rotto is one of my favorites! NutriDude and I were both lucky enough to spend a sunny winter day on the island exploring. The color of the ocean is just magnificent there; I absolutely love the deep dark turquoise water around the island. I do remember a rocky ferry ride there but it was well worth it!

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    1. We were lucky with our ferry ride on this trip - very smooth! The colour of the ocean is pretty amazing. I'm glad you got to visit and that you had a good time!

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  10. I have only had one trip there many years ago and don't remember it well - apart from a terrible crossing over on the cheap ferry and I also remember the quokkas being very cute. I don't think I hired bikes which I think is a shame as it sounds a great place for cycling. Your post makes me want to return.

    And I don't think you should be at all apologetic about a non food post during vegan mofo - I see plenty of others doing it - I think it is quite a broad approach to food that includes vegan lifestyle so if you do it next year I am sure you could branch out from just food posts

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    1. You should definitely return, and hire bikes this time :) I am sure Sylvia would love it too, quokkas included.

      Thanks for the thoughts on vegan mofo - I have seen others interpret it in lots of different ways so suspect it was my self-imposed sense of what I "should" be posting about. I think next year I'll give it a bit more forethought and get more variety in.

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  11. You have just made me love being an Aussie even more :) What a beautiful place. It's definately on my to do list.

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    1. Thank you Cass! I'm glad you enjoyed the Australian spirit - and I'm thrilled you stopped by, because now I get to discover another Australian blogger too :)

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