Perth (secundo)

Actually, this could be better entitled "Rottnest" as that's where I spent most of the day.

When VOC Captain de Vlamingh first stumbled across the island in the late 17th century, he found huge numbers of what he thought were giant rats, so he called the place "Rottnest" (rat nest). In fact, what he'd found were quokkas – a kind of marsupial. On a cuteness scale, where a box of kittens is 10, quokkas come in at about 9.8:

For comparison purposes, here is a box of kittens:

Quokkas are now confined almost entirely to this island, though there are a few on the mainland in isolated areas. The ones on Rottnest have become quite used to humans and are happy to wander about the town looking for scraps. There isn't much in the photos to give you perspective, but they're about the size of a cat.

The friends that I'm going to be staying with in Melbourne strongly recommended a trip to Rottnest so I decided to devote the second day of my Perth stay to it – it's not really something you can do for less than a day. There is one ferry from Perth in the morning, but it was too early for me, so I got the train back to Fremantle and caught a later ferry there. The ferry company also rent bikes, which are the ideal way to see the island – it's too big to walk around and there aren't any cars to speak of.

On arriving, I came upon this sign:

Yes, it really does say "train station" and "airport" - more later.

The island has a rather chequered history – its first major use was as a prison for aboriginal men. Most of the prisoners had broken laws that they didn't know existed. Even had they known, the British laws were so alien to them that they simply didn't understand them. There is an aboriginal burial ground on the island but none of the graves are marked and, until recently, the land wasn't considered particularly special. It has even been used as a camp ground for tourists. Now, though, the island authority is working with representatives of the Aborigines to make sure that the land is treated with the respect that it deserves.

After its time as a prison, the people of Perth and the other settlements along the shore started visiting. At first, it was only the governor of the colony who'd had a house built for his use there, who was allowed to visit, but then it was opened up to everyone. Now, it is a very popular destination for day trips and short breaks. It's the destination of choice for school leavers celebrating the end of term.

I set off on my round trip (well, part way round – I didn't have time to do the full circuit), heading west along the south shore of the island. Here is a picture of my trusty steed – note the warnings on the sign:

[Note for Dutch readers: the thing hanging on the handlebars is a helmet – a device for protecting the head in the event of accidents. Wearing one is compulsory under Australian law]

The bike was great – it was weird riding a mountain bike again after so many years on my solid Gazelle Damesfiets in Amsterdam. I was up there with the best of them in Amsterdam with my 3-speed gears. The Rottnest Bike had 24 speeds so I simply laughed at the hills.

[Note for Dutch readers: a hill is a place where the ground is not horizontal]

The island is a paradise for surfers, snorkellers and just for swimming. Although the sea temperature was fine, it was a little cool for swimming and, in any event, I didn't really have time. I came upon this beautiful little beach – one of many:

There are coral reefs just off shore and the sea is the most amazing colour – with shadows where there is weed on the seabed. On the highest point of the island, Wadjemup Hill, stands a lighthouse. The channel between Rottnest and the mainland is full of dangerous reefs and just-submerged rocks which claimed many ships. Building a lighthouse was, therefore, an early priority. The current light:

Was constructed in 1896 and has protected access to Fremantle (and thence to Perth) ever since. The little white building to the left of the lighthouse is the remains of the original light which was dismantled when the current tower was built. This is a shot of the view from the Lighthouse (well, part of it – it has, obviously enough, 360° of view):

You can just make out the buildings of the central business district of Perth towards the right hand side of the horizon.

As well as a rôle in protecting shipping, Rottnest also has a military history. Its strategic location was recognised in the 1930s as the threat of war grew stronger. Most people know that Australian troops fought alongside other allied troops in most of the theatres of the second world war. What I, at least, had not realised was how serious the threat to Australia itself was. The Japanese air force carried out air raids on several towns – mostly in the north, but also down the west coast. Invasion was a genuine threat and a battery was established on Rottnest to ensure that enemy ships could not get close enough to the port of Fremantle to launch an assault. The guns were built on Oliver Hill, and the railway (told you we'd get back to it) was built to help ferry first the construction materials and the guns themselves and then men and ammunition to Oliver Hill. It is a genuine railway, but there aren't going to be any high-speed services on it, I don't think:

Here is one of the guns – a 9.2" gun, capable of firing armour-piercing shells up to 28km:

Here is another view of the lighthouse:

The small, square tower to the right of the picture is the firing tower for the guns. They had a complete view of the surrounding seas and would provide bearings and ranges for the guns. Looking east from Oliver Hill, you can just make out the aforementioned airport (just right of the middle, below the horizon). It's not quite ready for an A380, but you can take sightseeing flights around the island if you want.

By now, I wanted to get back into town to make sure of catching the 15:00 ferry. Although there are later ones, this one goes all the way to Perth, so I wouldn't have to get off at Fremantle and take the train back. Once back in town, I visited the little mall where there is a general store which defies apparent retail sense by being really quite big and being well stocked with fresh produce and baked goods (better stocked than several supermarkets I visited in Amsterdam). Considering that there are very few permanent residents on the island and not that many tourists at this time of year, it's hard to see how they can make it work, but I guess they must do.

Also in the mall is the Rottnest Bakery – again with an unfeasibly large assortment of excellent home baking. I treated myself to a delicious steak and kidney pie and then, still having a small corner to fill, a truly enormous fruit scone. It's not just the quokkas that are tame – this little fellow sat at the next table to me for the entire time that I was there and was thrilled when I dropped a few scone crumbs for him. I have no idea what kind of bird he is (or she is?) but he seemed quite unconcerned by the people about him:

The island museum tells the story of Rottnest and covers some of the natural flora and fauna that were there before humans arrived. The only genuine "industry" that there has ever been was salt production – several of the lakes on the island had a high saline content and the dried salt was collected in summer and shipped all over Western Australia (it was the only source of salt in the whole state for many years). As with the building of the prison, the governor's holiday house and the lighthouse, it was aboriginal prisoners who did much of the actual work of salt collection but, of course, they didn't see any of the profits. This is one of the lakes that was used for salt production. The road to the right of the picture is actually an artificial causeway built to make access easier for transporting the salt:

The museum also has a stuffed quokka:

which might be easier to photograph, but isn't as cute as the real thing:

Just as I was leaving, I came across this handsome chap:

Quite what he's doing here on Rottnest, I have no idea. It was time to leave and there was nobody about to ask. As I said, I caught the 15:00 ferry because it went right up to Perth and I was interested in seeing the city from the river. As we passed Fremantle though, I was reminded that I read somewhere that it was the first containerised port in Australia. Although it's not quite in Singapore's league now, there are still an impressive number of containers piled on the dockside:

The run up the Swan River was great – lots of lovely houses on both sides and more marinas than you could possibly imagine were necessary. Western Australia has a higher percentage of boat owners than any other state in the country. They're basically water daft here. I bet these aren't the cheapest houses in town:

Approaching the city centre, I got this shot of the Central Business District. Although it looks busy, Perth is actually very quiet. There is so much land available, that it has spread out rather than up – Perth's suburbs stretch for more than 100km.

Before I left the ferry landing, I popped into the gents and was intrigued by the flush. I wonder just how posh you have to be before you're allowed to use the right hand button. I played it safe and went left – I'd hate to be caught out for the plebeian that I am...

Just outside the ferry building is this:

It's called the bell tower and was Perth's millennium project. It claims to be the world's largest musical instrument. Unfortunately, the performance for the Saturday had been cancelled or I would have been tempted to go back into town to visit.