Today was the big day, the one I had paid all this money to have. The day of the quokka. I went to bed so early last night that I was up and working by 3am, then watching game of thrones which was playing in the common room at 5am. By 7am I was on the road and walking back into the city to catch the first ferry to Rottnest at 7:45am.
Or at least that’s what I thought I would be doing. I got there and was confused to find the ticket office closed but the boat sitting on the jetty. Thankfully there was free WiFi so I connected and bought a ticket online because maybe the ticket office opens after the first boat leaves. It wasn’t until I went to buy the ticket online and was viewing the departure and return times that I realized I looked at the wrong timetable the night before and to leave from downtown Perth it’s an 8:45am boat.
I decided to pass the time at the nearby cafe. I figured it must be good since there was a whole team of cyclists and their bikes sitting out front under the large awning. There were so many of them that when I tried to order a coffee I was asked to wait, then stood there for five minutes as the only two staff members ran coffees and breakfast out to the cyclists. Finally I ordered then sat there sipping my latte and munching on my chocolate croissant as the pier slowly came alive.
Now here is the part where I’d write about the boat. My only surprise about the boat was how crowded it was and how long the ride was (again I thought it would be 30min but it was an hour and a half). I’d write about the guided tour along the ride but about ten minutes in I was fast asleep and didn’t wake up until we were docking at the jetty at Rottnest Island.
The island itself is incredibly easy to navigate and very clearly set up for tourism. The information booth is the first thing you see upon exiting the ferry, as well as the toilets. I picked up a bus ticket at the information booth then walked a bit further to another toilet that wasn’t packed full of people before hopping on the bus.
Since my main concern was seeing the quokkas I asked the driver where was the best place to do that. He told me to get off at stop 5, which has a beautiful view and “there are plenty of them there” so that’s where I headed first. After viewing the gorgeous ocean and beach I started to search for the quokka. I looked low and lower (they are only about a foot tall) then took one of the walking paths through the bush to see if they were there hiding under trees and bushes. If they were, which they definitely were because their poop was everywhere on the trail, then they were doing a great job of hiding cause I didn’t see a single one. I kept walking along the road and past all the gorgeous beaches. Honestly, Gold Coast has nothing on the beaches of Rottnest Island. I was pretty upset that I didn’t pack my bathing suit until I got to the third, and most popular beach, to wait for the bus to take me to the lighthouse, and noticed there were no showers anywhere or anywhere to rinse off.
The bus naturally was running late and packed but at least it meant I didn’t have to walk to the lighthouse. It was supposed to be lovely up there and I had read that it was known to have quokkas there. It was about 1pm and I already felt like I had sweated out every ounce of spare water in my body as I trekked up the long steep hill. My sweatiness was soon forgotten as I spotted an adorable, round, furry creature hopping slowly around - it was a quokka! Along the path were plenty of others too.
Now supposedly there are hefty fines levied to people who are caught touching or feeding the quokkas. Personally I saw no fewer then a dozen people do it with no consequences other then the public shaming that these two German girls were giving them. The vast majority of the incidents were also from poorly behaving kids. I felt so bad for the quokkas, especially the baby fur balls who clearly didn’t know better. You would think that the island would post someone just to 1) make money 2) stop stressing out the wildlife.
On my way back from the lighthouse I decided to take a quick trek uphill to the little snack bar. I knew I’d run out of water soon enough and after feeling like I was dying yesterday thought it was better to be proactive and just spend money so I would collapse in the middle of the bush and get eaten alive by quokkas. The snack bar was super cute and I got to strike up a conversation with the young woman who works there. She’s the one that clues me in to the fact that the quokkas roll in little packs and keep to a territory or home area and only come out in dark shady areas. As I slurped down the frozen lemonade pop we swapped Instagram accounts and I encouraged her to keep up with the photography.
I thought since I saw one animal, why not try to see the others, so I waited a long while for the bus to arrive, hopped it and headed to Cathedral Rock to see if I could find New Zealand fur seals and dolphins. A long walk through some short glad either and I found myself standing at one of the western tips of Australia. Unfortunately I wasn’t as lucky as I was with the quokkas and had to hang out a little for a seal to take a break from fishing and hang out on the large outcropping of rocks so I could take pictures. It took a while for it to happen but I wasn’t too upset. The crisp blue water and huge rock sticking out was a great view as I enjoyed the cool breeze.
Of course when I turned around and made my way back to the bus stop I got there just in time to watch it roll away. I walked down to the other scenic outlook and then back to the picnic table next to the bus stop. As I sat there sweating in the sun and sipping on my water I saw a little fur ball pop up from the brush and hop it’s way across the street, making a beeline right for me. It hopped between my legs and then just sat there between my feet in the cool reprieve of the shade under the picnic table. I stuck my phone under the table and just started snapping photos. The curious little quokka got closer and closer to the phone, giving it a good sniff with its tiny snoot, before backing off in disinterest presumably because it wasn’t food. I got a few photos with my real camera too and got up so the Japanese woman at the table could get a picture too, then sat back down to wait for the bus. As the bus rolled up a bunch more people showed up and scared the little quokka off into the hole in the bush next to the table. I looked up and managed to grab the bus just as the doors were closing and settled in for the ride back to the ferry.
At first I thought my exhaustion and laziness to keep walking was resulting in me wasting my time and stopping me from seeing something else, but when we rolled up to the final stop the driver informed us that when he took off it would be the last bus of the day and I was grateful I pooped out just at the right time. I walked through the town shopping center and grabbed some salmon and juice from the general store. I saw they had souvenirs too but wanted to check out the official shop first before I bought anything. After munching on my snack and witnessing some more quokka abuse I walked down to the information center’s gift shop. It was 100% too fancy and convoluted so I walked back up to the general store and got to shopping.
The rest of the evening was uneventful. I made my ferry without issue, sat next to a family of quokka abusers who I yelled at earlier in the day, dragged myself to the grocery for dinner and then all the way back to the hostel. I was a little disappointed that I’d pushed myself so hard today because Perth was popping! Every restaurant and bar was packed with people dressed to the nines. Back at the hostel things were only a little quieter but I was just glad to be settled down after running around literally all day. But it was worth it to meet the cute quokkas face to face.
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