Rottnest Island

Day 33
I got up early, around 6:30ish, to check out of my hostel (didn’t get a refund for that coming night but I did for the following night) and head off to the ferry to Rottnest Island. The ferry ride was about 90 minutes from Perth along the Swan River, which was a beautiful ride, before crossing the ocean. From all the drinking from the following day, I was a little hungover, but luckily it went away by mid morning. The ticket was pretty pricey, around $135 which included the ferry ride, entry fee to the island and a rented bike (the island is vehicle free except for emergency vehicles and a bus service). Once we arrived, I got my bike and made my way to Little Salmon Bay which was about a 25 minute bike ride. I don’t ride bikes too often so the 25 minute ride took me 45 minutes because it was very hilly and the biking really hurt my knee. Needless to say it wasn’t too enjoyable, but I made it there and boy was it worth it! The water was several different colors of blue and beautiful white sand beach. I laid out my towel and hung for a while before building up the energy to do the bike ride back. Rottnest is home to the Quokkas, an animal which can only be found on a couple of islands off of Perth. Quokkas are cute and very friendly, letting people take selfies with them. On my ride back to the ferry I came across a bunch of Quokkas hopping along the side of the road so I stopped to take some pictures with them. Once I got back to the ferry port, I grabbed lunch, picked up some snacks, and did some people watching. I had some extra time before my ferry but didn’t have enough time to bike anywhere else so I just biked around the immediate area. I took the ferry back to B Shed, which is where I was meeting Tegan to drive down to Margaret River. The drive down was mostly on one road so there wasn’t too much to see but Tegan and I had some great conversations. As the sun started to go down, I kept my eyes peeled for kangaroos on the side of the road but didn’t see any. We pulled up to Big4 Taunton Farm, a campground where you could camp out or they had cabins that you can stay in. The concert the next day was at 3 Oceans Winery which was right next to the campground. After unpacking we headed to the BBQ to have an authentic Aussie BBQ with sausage, onions and steaks. We shared a grill with another group and everyone freaked out when the guy threw shrimp on the barbie (just for me). It was a fun group, Tegan, Catherine, Catherine’s bf and his 2 friends (2 of the guys were from New Zealand). After we cleaned up from the BBQ and returned to the cabin we talked for a little and then all went to bed, it had been a long day.Read more