Quokka Selfie

​Rottnest Island is only 19km off the coast from Fremantle and is easily reached by ferry. Here, it’s all about the quokkas. What is a quokka? It’s a small marsupial, like a wallaby shrunk to the size of housecat, with a charming smile and curious personality. They are extremely photogenic, due to their tendency to approach humans and look up at the camera. In the Instagram era, the tradition of taking a “quokka selfie” has become so popular that it’s heresy to leave the island without one.

​The Dutch explorers mistook the quokkas for rats – their tails are indeed a bit rat-like – and named the island “Rottnest” (Rat’s Nest) in their honor. While mostly extinct on mainland Australia, the quokkas are abundant on Rottnest. All the shops in the main tourist village had heavy plastic quokka gates, intended to stop them from getting in. Unsuccessfully, I might add. I saw several quokkas begging for scraps at the bakery tables. The quokkas had a tendency to loiter around garbage cans, so a jaded Aussie might still spitefully call them “rats.”

​The day started in Perth, where I finished up my Servas stay and hopped on the bus to Fremantle. Also journeying to Freo that morning were a group of Aboriginal locals, including three boisterous ladies who appeared to be drunk at 11:00am and a large man who reeked of body odor. From the other riders’ reactions, this did not seem to be a typical occurrence.

In Freo, I stopped by a local sandwich shop called Peggy’s and picked up two sandwiches, one for lunch and another for dinner. Both were absolutely delicious, including a flavorful pesto roast beef and the most deluxe BLT that I’ve ever had. I made sure to puppy guard this precious food from the seagulls at the ferry terminal, who were keeping a close eye.

​The ferry was uncrowded. Most people visit on a day trip from Perth, whereas I was traveling from Fremantle and staying for 2 nights.

​On the island, I picked up the keys from the information desk and began the hike from the main settlement to Kingstown, where the hostel was located. It was walkable, but long enough to get pitiful looks from people on bikes. At the very end, a sympathetic bus driver let me hop on for free.

The hostel was located in the Kingstown Barracks, an old military settlement from the WWII era. At the time, Rottnest was fortified to protect Fremantle from a naval attack.

Since I had a few hours of daylight, I hiked into the hills along a historical trail that linked several military bunkers. It was a rainy, moody afternoon. The perfect balance of tranquil and creepy. As I walked through the drizzly forest along an old rail line, originally used to transport ammunition, it felt like exploring a video game map. When I reached the top, a quokka scurried away from the center of the gun turret base. It was a funny juxtaposition. I thought of an innocent little quokka firing an enormous cannon. At the entrance to the outpost, a king skink flashed its tongue before slowly retreating inside, its scaly belly rasping on the wet concrete floor.

​The eerie hike continued down to the beach, which was beautiful even on a gray day. I encountered more skinks, including one that didn’t budge so I had to leap over it, and several of the bobtail variety.

Eventually I reached a second gunnery, where I had my BLT sandwich. There were great views of the rocky shore, large cylindrical water tanks, and a few stray quokkas in the bush. The only annoyance was the ugly cawing of the crows. For whatever reason, all the crows in WA had the most whiny, pained caws.

​The barracks attracted a strange mix. There was an Eastern European-sounding lady who left full cups of tea everywhere, a nice Asian lady with a persistent cough, and two Australian men with an odd-couple dynamic. The large dorm had plenty of vacancies, but the hostel owner had assigned everyone beds in the same corner. Elsewhere in the complex, there were school groups with occasional bursts of playground energy. And at night, the lawn was filled with nibbling quokkas, who sometimes wandered onto the hostel’s porch. Quirks aside, it was a wonderful historic building with all the essentials, including a kitchen that I used to make a pasta dinner the second night.

Having a full day on Rottnest gave me the ability to embark on an ambitious biking adventure: the 22km loop around the entire island. Since there are no cars and only a few buses, riding a bike is the perfect way to get around. The bike rental was enormous, with the largest fleet I’ve ever seen. I arrived during the morning rush when they opened at 8:30, so the pickup process was somewhat impersonal. The only guidance given was a flatly delivered: “try not to hit a quokka.”

​Rottnest had so many amazing beaches, it would be futile to attempt cataloging them all. I probably made 15-20 stops, hopping off the bike whenever it struck my fancy. The stops all had a bike rack and a wooden staircase with beach access. It was a perfect day to have hiking sandals, as I could jump off my bike and walk straight into the shallow, clear water.

​The sheltered coves were a bright turquoise color with dark patches of seaweed, while the shoreline exposed to the open ocean was dark and frothy. There were often interesting rock formations, from jagged layers to hollowed out archways. At the far western tip, there was a seal colony and an osprey nest. I saw an osprey fly by with a fish in its talons. It was one of those remote places with an aura of last refuge. Looking out to the Indian Ocean, the nearest continent was 3000km in any direction.

One of my favorite beaches was the picturesque Marjorie Bay. It felt like I had stumbled into a travel advertisement. The sand was soft and vibrantly tan. The water was blue and foamy. Even the rocks looked like the cover of my Australia guidebook. Did I mention it was completely deserted? I put my phone camera on a timer and took some silly jumping photos.

​Towards the end of the bike loop, I arrived back in the settled area, and stopped at Pinky Beach. At the foot of a picturesque lighthouse, I took a dip in the water and dried off in the sun. The waves were picking up and I could hear thunder in the distance, so I didn’t dwell too long. I made it back to the barracks just as a burst of rain arrived.

​The rain subsided, and I ventured out again, which turned out to be an excellent decision. The skies were simply bursting with activity! There was a full rainbow to the east, a gorgeous sunset to the west, and a lightning storm to the south. During this golden hour, the sand turned a beautiful shade of orange. Nature knows how to put on a good show.

​The quokkas, more active at dusk, continued to put on a good show too.

On my last Rottnest morning, I balanced my duffel bag on the bike rack and rode from Kingstown to the main village. I returned the bike and waited for my ferry in the town square, savoring my last quokka encounter.
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As a transition between my visit to Rottnest and my road trip to Margaret River, I booked one night at a hostel in Fremantle, which had a unique location… within the Fremantle Prison!

The prison was built by convict labor in the 1850s and continued operating until 1991. Hence, it had many layers of history, from colonial to modern. The hostel itself was in the former women’s prison, a self-contained wing. I wandered around its halls, lounges, and courtyards, which were more inviting than expected. However, it was still a prison with plenty of concrete and fenced areas. Since I arrived before check-in, I had to temporarily put my luggage in the storage room. The room had an enormous lock and key, which inspired confidence in my bag’s safety while I headed off to the Fremantle Market.

​The Fremantle Market started back in 1897 and is housed in a beautiful building. Inside was a bustling food court with a dizzying selection of international cuisines, and a more relaxed area with arts and crafts. Many of the artistic wares featured Fremantle landmarks and humor, like a giraffe trying to flirt with the long-necked cranes in the shipyard. I also loved the quirky art style of Stunned Emu Designs.

​That night, I managed to get a spot on the prison’s Torchlight Tour, which covers some of the darker and spookier elements of the site. The charismatic guide Simon was oozing with humor and energy from the very beginning, calling out “guilty… guilty… guilty” as each attendee was admitted. He was one of the most entertaining guides I’ve encountered anywhere in the world. Not only did he nail the info delivery, but he did a great job of involving audience members. For example, at the flogging post, he had a girlfriend pretend to whip her boyfriend, and hilarity ensued. He also filled the gaps between stops by singing little songs, like “Ring of Fire” when trying to get people into a circle.

​The tour had some built-in jump scares, including an actor who popped out of a solitary confinement cell to deliver a creepy monologue, which thoroughly freaked out several members of the group. There were also some sobering moments, like a visit to the gallows, where 44 people were hanged. Simon dutifully described how the hangings were carried out, with details that would likely be omitted on the daytime tours. If they couldn’t stand, the prisoner could be seated when the trapdoor opened; the chair was tethered with a string, so it wouldn’t break on the bottom of the pit.

​The hostel bed was surprisingly comfortable, and I slept well even after the haunting torchlight tour. Between the Kingstown Barracks and now the Fremantle Prison, I was soaking up a lot of history at night.

All in all, the quokkas lived up to the hype and Rottnest Island really surprised me with its amazing beaches. The biking tour was my single favorite day of my 2 weeks in WA.