Day 5 - Rottnest Island

Another early start today as we had to leave by 7:30am to get the ferry to Rottnest Island. We picked up some coffee and bagels on the way and got the train to the port. Rottnest Island is 19km off the coast of Perth, and has 63 beaches/bays. Luckily we have Aoife who knows the best places to swim and snorkel.

When we disembarked the boat, Louis said it reminded him of the American Folk Park mixed with the series Lost. You can rent bikes to explore the island but unfortunately Alexander couldn’t reach the pedals yet so we decided to take the bus.

We got off at ‘Little Salmon Bay’ and set up our umbrella and towels. Thankfully more successful than yesterday. Alexander was tired and probably not coping well with the heat so fought the sleep. He went from crying to laughing to crying until he eventually fell asleep. We took it in turns to go for a swim and snorkel while he slept.

It was really warm and peaking at 38 degrees today so when he woke up, we decided to jump on the bus and head to some shade for lunch and drinks in Pinky’s Beach Club. Alexander was much happier here and enjoyed watching the Quokkas bounce around. They are indigenous to the island and look like a mix of mini kangaroo and rat. I wasn’t a fan and kept my feet off the ground at all times.

We sat at Pinky’s all afternoon and just enjoyed the shade and views. We walked back to the village to get the ferry home and while waiting, we had another drink and Aoife bumped into her friends. They adored Alexander’s sunglasses and to be fair, he does look so cool with them on.

The ferry home was packed. We had to ask some people if it was ok if they moved over and we joined them by their seats. Turned out that they were from Belfast - Mad, small world! The journey was crazy, very bumpy and had some people throwing up. Alexander seemed to love it though. Thank goodness.

We had arranged to meet some friends (Andy Mac & Ethan), from home for a sunset drink tonight at a brewery, Gage Roads, near the port, and some of Aoife’s friends also joined us. We caught up, watched the sun go down and had a few local bevys.

We went to get a train home but you’ll never guess what, bloody bus replacement again. One of the drivers also refused to let us on as we didn’t have cash and they didn’t have a card machine, just the machine for locals with a bus pass to tap. Thankfully, the other driver was kinder and agreed to let us on for free. To be fair, if the train was on, we wouldn’t have had a problem, so I’m not sure why the first man kicked up such a fuss.

We were all wrecked after an early start and long day in the sun. We had some leftovers, a cuppa tea and headed straight to bed. Sweet dreams!