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Saturday 25th - Jan 14
Jackie and Andy paid for almost everything while we were there so as a thank you Stevie and I booked a day biking around Rottnest Island. We had to catch our ferry from Fremantle. The island is around 18km from the main land. About 45mlater we docked and picked up our bikes to start our tour. We organised the whole tour through Rottnest Ferries. The bikes worked on some kind of belt instead of a chain.
Rottnest island is only 4.5km wide and 11km long. The bike trails were divided into 3 main routes. We decided to take the medium route that compassed both the coarst and in land route. We managed to hit each check point very quickily. Andy and I decided to bike up a steep hill to a World War II battery. This was installed to protect the port of Fremantle which was the main Allied base in the Indian Ocean. A gun on the Island allowed the allies to attack any enemy long before they came in range of Fremantle. It is the only fully equipt outpost gun left in Australia. A train line runs from the gun to Kingstown to ferry ammunition to the gun.
The views from the top gave as panoramic shots of the Island. On the way down one of the tour guides showed us what appeared to be a Dugite or brown snake, the second most venomious land snakes in the world. We didnt want to hang around it long, so after a few photos we decided to head back down to the girls who didn't want to head up. Once we caught up with them in it getting hot so decided to head to the beach and have a mid way swim. On the ride there we spotted Quokkas, they survive in only a small number of places in the world. The remoteness of the island helpspopulation thrive here. They are no bigger than a domestic cat, They are brown and look like a cross between a rat and a kangaroo. They even hop in the same way. They a curious little creature. We watched them for a while. Within minutes of getting off my bike one of them managed to find my water bottle and was licking the top. I couldnt drink it now. So decided to give the water to them on this very hot day. I have a few good shots of me feeding them in our photos. They much have needed it as I ended up with 4 around me. They could have drunk a litre each i reckon.
I could have watched them all day, but we had to move on. The Island was dotted with little bays all along the coast. We decided to stop off at Little Salmon Bay as it was known for good snokeling. The bay held golden sand that led to turquise water that was so clear. We locked up out bikes and jumped straight into the sea. We took the girls out snokeling, There was a wide range of fish. Evie was a little scared to get amoungst the mini reefs. I made such I doubled up on the sun lotion when I got out for lunch as I didnt really apply enough on the first day and ended up burning my chest.
In one of the rocks we found a King's Skink. A black reptile lizard creature. While someone was out at sea the Skink came out the rocks and stole a few of their crisps. I managed to get a few photos of him before he scarpped off.
Andy, Stevie and the girls went back into the sea after lunch and ventured out further and saw a variety of fish and coloured coral.
We got back on the bike and continued on our route. On the trail back we spotted a Banded garden spider. It was a large spider that was worth a photo which is in our Album.
The eventually arrived back at Thomson Bay. We took no time heading straight to the store to get drinks and icecream. With a couple of hours still left before our ferry we decided to so the smaller route and check out the other bays. We decided to stop off at The Basin Bay for our final swim of the day before we headed back to the ferry.
It was a really nice day, We saw loads of different types of animals and the girls were brilliant on their bikes. The ferry got back very quickily, just after 6.15pm. I think he was racing the other boat. We finshed the day with a takeaway before taking the hour journey home tired from the long day.
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