I’m back in Western Australia working. This is one of my favorite places to visit; I’ve been here over a half-dozen times. Yet, in all the times I’ve been here, I haven’t visited Rottnest Island, home to the quokkas. We have the weekend off, so my colleague, Rachael, and I took the early morning ferry to the island Saturday to explore. After walking aimlessly a bit, we returned to the main settlement and caught a free quokka tour and then got on the hop-on hop-off bus for a tour around the island. We asked to get dropped off between normal stops so we could hike to the Oliver Hill Guns. After the guns, we hiked to the Wadjemup Lighthouse, and then caught the bus to the west end where we could see the seals swimming by Cathedral Rock. We took the bus back to Thompson Bay where we ate lunch at the bakery with the quokkas wandering around at our feet and then caught the 2:30 ferry back to Fremantle.

We only saw the quokkas at the main settlement; they are naturally nocturnal animals except for the handful that have learned to look for food scraps during the day where the tourists are hanging out. It was well worth the visit, and I could have spent a few more hours exploring the island.