Epic Round The World Trip Adventures! Stunning Photos & Articles - A fascinating gap year travel journal covering every stop of their journey.

Rottnest Island - West Australia
Round The World Trip Journal

Text By Jo and Pix By Mike

(12th March) Perth - Rottnest Island
When the Dutch discovered Rottnest Island (a half hour boat trip from Fremantle, Perth) they found some little animals that they assumed were rats and so named the island "Rat's Nest" Island, hence "Rottnest". These rats are in fact quokkas - a small marsupial. The island is about 10km long by 5km wide and no cars are allowed so the only way to get around is either by bus, by foot or by bike. This place swarms with tourists and in peak summer holiday months it is fully booked out months in advance. We even heard that because it is so oversubscribed they hold an annual draw to pick names out for the restricted number of places and the results are advertised in the newspaper. We were glad we were off season but the island was still heaving and you have to queue to hire bikes, snorkelling gear and buy food! Once you have everything sorted off you go round the island. We headed south to the snorkelling beaches of Little Salmon Bay and Parker Point. It wasn't a patch on other snokelling we had done up North, Mike suspects that there is probably much better bays on the island to snorkel, a bit of local knowledge is required me thinks, but it was a lovely way to cool off since it was a sweltering hot day again. Can't remember the last time we rode bikes!!! There are lots of pretty little bays dotted around the island and its quite a rugged rocky coastline with white sand beaches and turquoise water - very scenic. We rode up to the lighthouse for a panoramic view of the island and then headed up to the north of the island. It was here that we came across a group of quokkas by the side of the road. As we put down our bags they came bustling around, sniffing and licking them. One even found a zip slightly undone and tried to pull stuff out! They are really cute and extremely tame, one sniffed and licked Mike's hand and as you can see from the photos they weren't scared of us at all and we were able to stroke them. Back onto our bikes and past the Pink Lakes (not much water in them so not so pink really!). On the northern coast we went to Parrakeet Bay and Geordie Bay. We decided this is the place we'd like to stay if we came again. A very pretty little cove with apartments looking out over the sea. This is the bay behind Mike in the photo where he is sitting on his bike. From the cliff top looking down we spotted a 6ft manta ray cruising along the beach. Back at the port we returned our bikes and retreated to the Quokka Arms for a nice cold beer and to rest our aching limbs. Jo had Elvis legs as a result of not having done much physical exercise in ages and her butt bones were sore for days afterwards!

Highlights of our round the world trip:

Stop 1 - Capetown---> The City | Simonstown Penguins | Table Mountain Cable Car | The Waterfront Seals | Windsurf Action.
Stop 2 - West Australia---> Perth City | Perth Zoo | Cohunu Animal Park | Rottnest Island | Rockingham Penguins | Yanchep Park Koalas | Cervantes Pinnacles | Geraldton Windsurfing | Kalbarri Gorge | The Pink Lake | Coronation Beach Windsurfing | Gero Road to Cervantes | Carnarvon Jetty & Quobba Snorkel | Denham Lagoon | Monkey Mia Dolphins | Coral Bay Termite Hills | Coral Bay Quad Biking The Dunes | Exmouth Kangaroos | Mandurah Canals | Margaret River | Margaret River Wine Tour | Margs Windsurfing | Bunbury Windsurf | Bussleton Pier | Towns near Bussleton | Augusta Nature | Pemberton Camping | Pemberton Tall Trees | Cape D'Entrecasteaux | Walpole Tall Trees.
Stop 3 - East Australia---> Cairns Sky Rail Cable Car Over The Rainforest | Mossman Gorge | Cape Tribulation Rainforest | Port Douglas | Daintree Crocodiles | Captain Cook Highway | Beaches Near Cairns | Atherton Tablelands Fig Trees | Bowen Beaches | Airlie Beach | Whitsunday Islands Boat Tour | Great Barrier Reef Snorkel | Whitsunday Snorkelling | Town of 1770 History | Fraser Island Beach Driving | Tin Can Bay Dolphins | Noosa River | Australia Zoo Wombats | Sunshine Coast | Nanango Bush | Gold Coast Beaches | Byron Bay Beaches | Woolgoolga Beaches | Coffs Harbour | Port Macquarie Cafes | Forster Pelicans | Great Lakes | Nelson Bay Dolphins | Sydney By Day | Sydney By Night | Sydney's Manly Beach.
Stop 4 - New Zealand---> Auckland Revolving Restaurant | Rotorua Volcanic National Park | Lake Taupo & Waitomo Glow Worms.
Stop 5 - French Polynesia---> Tahiti Island Waterfalls | Moorea Island Water Bungalows | Moorea Shark Feeding | Bora Bora Island Buggying.
Stop 6 - Hawaii, Maui---> Maui Snorkel Videos | Maui Snorkel Photography | Maui Windsurfing | Maui East Coast Hana Highway | Maui North Beaches 1 | Maui North Beaches 2 | Maui West Coast Surfing | Maui South West Lava Fields | Haleakala Volcano.
Stop 7 - Hawaii, Oahu---> Kailua Beaches | Round Oahu Island Drive | Honolulu Pearl Harbour | Oahu Snorkel Videos.
Stop 8 - West USA---> Los Angeles City Tour | Venice Beach | Long Beach | Queen Mary Tour | San Onofre Surfing | Route 66 Drive | Las Vegas Casinos | Grand Canyon.
Stop 9 - East USA---> Miami Beach Art Deco.
Stop 10 - UK, HOME---> Back To Heathrow, Bringing To A Close Our Amazing Round The World Trip.