Western Australia, Part 3: Freemantle, Perth and Rottnest Island

At the ferry landing at Rottnest Island, Western Australia

Recently, I was cleaning out and found my diary from our trip to Australia in 2007, when we toured the west coast with our friend Mike in his camper van, traveling from Augusta to Shark Bay and back to Perth. As I read through the entries I was reminded of the uniqueness of that landscape–different from anything else we had seen in Australia. Here is the third installment of some highlights from the trip.

New Holland Honeyeaters gather att our campground in Freemantle

From Eneabba we continued driving south to Perth and our campground at the port of Freemantle. The next morning we took the ferry from Victoria Quay in Freemantle to Rottnest Island.

Victoria Quay, Freemantle harbor

Originally built as a penal colony, Rottnest Island is now a protected reserve and tourist destination.  No cars are allowed, but one can rent bicycles, which we did, and rode to the Rottnest Lighthouse. (See my blog of March 31, 2014.)

Rottnest Lighthouse

On our way we met numerous quokkas–small marsupials extinct everywhere in Australia except on Rottnest.  They were remarkably fearless and approached us hoping for a handout. One was so friendly it bit my finger!  We then biked to a World War II gun emplacement on Oliver Hill and had a short tour by a volunteer guide. By the time we returned to town it started to rain so we spent the rest of the time in the museum, learning about the use of the island in the 1800s as an aboriginal prison and a boys reform school.

Quokka on Rottnest Island

Our final day was spent in Perth, walking along the Swan River and visiting the Western Australia Museum where we saw giant meteorites, a megamouth shark, and an exhibit focusing on the “lost generation”--aboriginal children taken away from their mothers. (The Australian film Rabbit Proof Fence is the powerful retelling of the story of three such girls who ran away from their boarding school and walked 1500 miles home. The story takes place in 1931.)

Walking along the Swan River in Perth

We then headed to the airport for the long flight over the Great Victoria Desert to Melbourne and from there, home to Los Angeles.
Our trip up the coast of Western Australia had been full, but still there was an enormous amount of the country yet to see. Someday, we’ll have to go back!