My day on Rottnest Island

Well, where to start?! This is, in my opinion, one of the most beautiful places in Australia.

It boasts some of the most gorgeous white sand beaches and bays as well as crystal clear, stunning turquoise waters. This little slice of paradise has such a laid back, chilled vibe which I could easily get used to!

There is so much to see and do over on this pearl of beauty in the Indian Ocean. I had such an amazing experience on this tiny but magical island that I have to share it with you.

Here's just a little intro into the island for you..

It is just off the coast of Fremantle, Perth in Western Australia, and this is where you can get a short ferry ride from to hop over there.

It's believed that the island was separated from mainland Australia 7000 years ago and was home to Aboriginal people prior to the separation.

It was actually discovered by European explorers in the 17th Century, and it was the Dutchman William Vlamingh who named the island after the abundance of creatures he found on there. He mistook them for rats and named the island 'Rotte Nest' meaning 'rat's nest'.

This name was eventually adapted to Rottnest.

The small island actually contains 63 beaches and 20 bays, all sparkling white sand and super snorkelling spots. You can go for a day or choose to spend a night or two there, but we just took a day trip and managed to squeeze so much fun into it!

Rottnest Island is largely uninhabited. It has about 300 people permanently living there, but is mostly populated by the small native wallaby-like marsupials known as quokkas, of which there are between 10,000-12,000! These happy little guys absolutely love a selfie!

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Here's a photo I captured of one of these adorable creatures, but I'll definitely be getting back to these guys later!

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The island covers 19 square kilometres, and there is no driving here so the best option is to hire a bike to cycle around the island and this is what we chose to do. You can also just walk around if you'd prefer, however I think you get to see a lot more cycling. There are a few different tracks to take; we chose the longest one (which was 22km altogether) to experience the most of beautiful Rottnest.

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Exploring Rottnest Island..

Hire your bike and off you set! This is incredibly popular and such a fun way to explore the island with freedom.

We absolutely loved cycling along; ruling the peaceful roads and looking out for hidden beaches and bays along the way. We got to see a bit of everything this island has to offer and at our own pace and leisure, which for me made it a much more enjoyable experience.

Every time we came across a new beach, my breath was taken away. Just stunning.

We passed and stopped at one after another after another gorgeous, mostly deserted, sandy havens.

A few of our first stops were Little Salmon Bay, Green Island, Mary Cove and Strickland Bay.

We were positively stunned and amazed at how beaut all these little beaches were, like seriously wow!

We would pause to admire the beauty of the view that lay ahead of us each time. So serene.

And then on with our journey, onto the next hidden wonder waiting to be discovered by us..

One of my favourite spots on Rottnest was Cape Vlamingh in the West End part of the island.

This is the most exposed and western point of the island. It is such a stunning lookout; the breathtaking view of natural, unspoiled cliffs and turquoise sea, and the waves climbing and crashing against the rocks.

One of the rocks (pictured) has been eroded so there is a hole right in the middle of it, so we just watched the relentless waves crashing through this rock for a while. Mesmerizing!

Bottle-nosed dolphins and New Zealand fur seals are often spotted from this point of the island, definitely making it a must see!

We actually did see a group of dolphins playfully surfing in the waves when we were here, and we even saw a whale in the distance jumping up, spraying water out of it's spout and splashing it's enormous tail against the ocean!

After passing by and admiring many more of Rottnest Island's pretty beaches and bays we cycled our way up to Wadjemup Lighthouse.

This lighthouse is open for tours but we just cycled up and around it to take a closer look.

Rottnest Island has a system of inland salt water lakes which covers 10% of the island, of which there are 12 in total.

These salt lakes support lots of the plant life here, while small freshwater holes are breeding grounds for the island's unique frog species as well as home to other plants.

The wetlands act very importantly on here

as they support all of the ecosystems on

Rottnest by providing food and water to many plants and wildlife inhabited on the island.

Take a scroll through these photos I captured of some more of the gorgeous treasures we discovered. These beaches include Parakeet Bay, Strickland Bay, Little Armstrong Bay, Stark Bay and Green Island.

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Meet the quokkas..

Now comes my favourite and most important reason to have visited Rottnest Island.. to meet the adorable quokkas!

Taking selfies with the quokkas was number one on my bucket list over here, and I managed to do just that!

They can only be found on Rottnest and a handful of smaller islands around the coast of Western Australia.

They're generally nocturnal animals, but can be seen during the day in abundance in the main settlement area of the island.

This is where all the places to eat and drink are as well as an area for children to play, therefore this is a very popular place for visitors to hang out.

And the cheeky quokkas love to try and get their little hands on any food within reach, so they love this part of the island.

We did manage to spot a few in other parts around the island, but mainly resting in shade under bushes.

They are incredibly cute, friendly and curious little creatures and are very used to tourists coming to visit them, so they are not afraid to get a closer look at you...

...and at what treats you may be carrying with you...

I absolutely loved taking selfies with the sweet, smiley quokkas and honestly could not stop laughing at their happy little faces! This was definitely the highlight of my trip to Rottnest Island. Take a scroll through these selfies...

I mean, look at how inquisitive and funny they are! Who couldn't love these incredible, adorable animals?!

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So there is my day trip to the beautiful Rottnest Island, Western Australia.

I thoroughly enjoyed this day and truly had the best time on this magical island.

From the stunning, flawless beaches and bays, the peaceful, chilled atmosphere overall, the cute, lovable quokkas and the sheer beauty of what lay ahead around every corner, Rottnest Island is an absolute must if ever you're in this part of the world and love everything I've described here.

Thanks for reading and taking a look at my adventure, I hope you enjoyed it!

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