Ha! Roy was finally prevailed upon to visit Rottnest Island – or Rotto, as it’s more generally known here in Western Australia.  (Click here for my 2018 day trip with Susan.)

As regular readers of this blog will know, my husband is the epitome of a Taurean: he loves his creature comforts. He detests anything akin to camping, hates the heat, and is anything but a beach bunny. No doubt he was hoping to continue to dodge the issue as he had successfully done thus far.

It was a slightly devious approach, beginning with daughter Wendy giving me a ferry ticket voucher for my birthday in January (or perhaps for Christmas). Then we ran out of time to do the trip together before her return to France at the end of January. And so Roy had perforce to accept the inevitable, step up to the plate and Just Do It.

Miserably prone to motion sickness, I had been praying for a smooth crossing. So, on the morning of our departure, when I removed my ultra-snoring-proof silicone earplugs and heard the banshee howling of the wind, I began to dread our 10am 45-minute ferry to Rottnest Island from Hillarys Boat Harbour.

In the end, I was fine – whether because the motion of the ferry wasn’t too bad, or because I’d swallowed a couple of Kwells before boarding, I neither know nor care. Seasickness is so horrible; take the drugs, I say!

What’s more, it bodes well for our next seafaring venture – a 28-night cruise on the Viking Sun from Sydney to Durban, departing 16 March. (Watch this space!)

Stay the Night

On this, my second trip to Rottnest, I dearly wanted to spend a night there. Islands have a slower heartbeat, and I don’t think a day trip is enough. You need to see the sun set, go for at least one early morning walk.

But Rottnest is generally pricey, even for Western Australia. So, faced with my beloved’s less-than-delirious enthusiasm for the whole venture, I had settled for the cheapest and most basic of Rottnest Island Authority’s wide range of accommodation. Our rustic, one-roomed Caroline Thompson cabin cost just A$117, plus $22.50 for a set of towels and linen for the double bed.

For that, you get a well-equipped kitchenette with a full-sized fridge, a shower room and a toilet, plus a little verandah with seating – and a friendly quokka for company. (The double bed plus four bunk-beds make it officially a six-sleeper, but it’s hard to imagine where more than three or four souls would put their stuff.)

Though he’d been warned about the extremely basic nature of our accommodation, my darling didn’t bother to hide his disgust: “It’s a shed!” he snarled. Fortunately, once he’d bounced a bit on the comfortable bed and grudgingly approved the separate toilet, he began to settle down a bit. A mug of instant espresso also did wonders to soothe the savage breast.

The glorious Goldilocks weather helped, too. While nearby Perth was broiling in the high 30s, Rottnest’s mid-20s temperatures and a cooling breeze meant that it was neither too hot nor too cold, but just right.

Getting Around

Cars aren’t allowed on Rottnest Island, except for service vehicles – and the Island Explorer bus, which leaves every 20 minutes at this time of the year. Unless you’re an ardent biker of hot and hilly routes, the best way to get an overview of the island is on this bus.

So that’s how we whiled the time until our 2pm check-in.

Biker Boy

It’s a good idea to hire bikes anyway ($30 a day; we paid $25 after a discount). On our first morning, biking to Thomson Bay Settlement’s The Mall to buy breakfast at the well-equipped grocery store took less than five minutes.

Later, it was also under five minutes by bike to Pinky’s Beach and The Basin, where I tried a bit of snorkelling.

Later, we cycled to Rottnest Hotel for twilight drinks and dinner – not sunset, note, as the Settlement is located on the east coast of the island.

After an 11-day alcohol-free detox, the bitterly cold Lumber Yak cider (below) was the best thing I’d tasted in ages. Dinner was pretty good, too:  perfectly cooked barramundi, with our compliments to the chef!

 

I can’t honestly recommend cycling in the dark, however, as parts of the road back to the cabin were pitch dark. (Having a couple of ciders under the belt helped a lot.)

The Next Day

Without television or wifi, once you’ve dined, you might as well hit the sack. And so it was early to bed (for both of us) and early to rise (for me) for a peaceful morning beach walk southwards along the various bays to Army Jetty.

Poetic Interlude

 

Roy loves me to recite this rhyme! – as I will do on the slightest pretext. (It’s by American poet and humorist Dixon Lanier Merritt (1879-1972).)

Checkout from our cabin is at the ungodly hour of 9am. Never mind… after stowing our luggage in a locker ($8 for 12 hours) at the Visitor Centre, we lingered over a laid-back breakfast at Frankie’s in The Mall, watching other humans and quokkas fuelling up for the day ahead.

Geordie Bay

Beautiful Geordie Bay had the virtue of being only 15 minutes away by bike.

Pity I didn’t snap a shot of Roy’s face on the 4.30pm ferry back to Hillarys. He was genuinely smiling.

 

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