Rottnest Island is only a short ferry ride away from Perth and is a whole distant world away. I have visited before and was very excited to show Rob the beauty of the place. The island stretches from one gorgeous by to the next and with cycling the only form on transport on the island, you hire a bike and literally roll from beach to beach. Rob, Mark and I headed off early for a full day of island fun.

The name Rottnest was given to the Island by Dutch explorers who observed that the island was covered in rats, hence the name Rottnest which translates to ‘rats nest’.  They however were very wrong. The island is home to a type of marsupial called a Quakka, which is a mini kangaroo in essence. As they have no predators on the island they are very friendly, often inquisitive and very very cute!

I’ll let the pictures tell the story as the day went exactly as the pictures look. We rode a lot. In fact we rode the entire 22km to complete a full loop of the island. This is the furthest I have ridden a bike in my life and unfortunately the island isn’t flat! In typical Rob style, the island was circled before lunch and with the exploration complete we spent the rest of the afternoon enjoying the sun and the water (which looked great but was unfortunately too cold to entice me in!)

Rottnest is such a special place to me and I would encourage anyone to visit who holidays in Perth. Summer of course is the ideal time to visit and enjoy the beaches. In winter, it makes for a beautiful day trip to enjoy the colours and the relaxed nature of island life.