Kangaroos, Koalas and a Wombat

You know you are in Australia when you can get up close and personal to these iconic animals.  We’ve spent a busy day on board a big blue Adams Coach, doing a full day trip.  First stop was to the Caversham Wildlife Park where the tour guide took us around to check out the animals.  The morning was a bit drizzly so we were pleased we had taken our rain jackets.  Some of the kangaroos had Joey's in the pouches so we could see legs or heads sticking out as Mum hopped around. 

 

Kangaroos galore

Next stop was the wombat enclosure where one of the keepers was sitting with a male wombat on his lap, and we were invited up to have our photo taken.  The wombat was perfectly content and didn’t move at all, as one after another, the bus passengers filed up for their photo opportunity.

Time with the wombat

Then it was on to the koala enclosure, where, sure enough, a young koala was waiting with the keeper. As we were allowed to gently touch these animals, we  had to use hand sanitiser as we entered each enclosure, to protect the animals.  

With a young koala

Our whizz bang tour concluded, we boarded the bus again and went on our way.  Our lunch stop was at the Lobster Shack, on the coast at Cervantes,  where we had a tour through the processing factory, then on to the dining area for lunch.  The price for our coach tour included fish and chips for lunch, with the option to upgrade to a lobster meal for an extra cost.  And why not, I thought, it isn’t often that I get an opportunity like this! Robin was happy with his fish and chips, as long as I gave him a little taste of my lobster.   The rock lobsters are fished off the coast, and we would call them crayfish back home in NZ.

Yummy lunch

Next was a visit to the amazing Pinnacles at Nambung National Park.  It seems that the experts cannot agree how these formations came to be, and there are several theories trotted out.  Whatever the real answer is, the Pinnacles were certainly amazing to see, stretching out into the desert as far as the eye could see.  We read: “Rising mysteriously from the sand dunes are thousands of limestone pillars up to 4m tall, a landscape in eerie contrast to the surrounding heath.  Some are jagged, sharp edged columns rising to a point, others resemble tombstones”. 

Just some of the Pinnacles

Our last stop was to the gorgeous snow white sand dunes at Lancelin.  We changed vehicles to a 4WD bus and were invited to have a go at sand boarding down the dunes.  Not for me, at my age, with middle aged bones I’d be worried about falling off and breaking a hip!  But some of the younger people had a go, and seemed to enjoy themselves.  It was fun enough just to stand by and watch then as they trudged up to the top of the dunes, and whizzed down on there dune boards. 

Sand duning

It was a long day, with the trip covering 500kms, but fun, and I’m sure that most of us nodded off in the coach on the return journey.  Certainly the easiest way to see these amazing sights, it was a most enjoyable day.   

Cute little Quokka

When is a rat not a rat?  When it is a quokka.  And what is a quokka, you may well ask?  A quokka is a marsupial the size of a hare or domestic cat, and as with other marsupials, such as the kangaroo and wallaby, the females suckle their young in a pouch. Rottnest Island, off the coast of Perth, Australia, has quokkas galore.  Rottnest Island was named by Dutch explorer William de Vlamingh in 1696, meaning rats nest, mistaking the quokkas for huge rats.   It wasn’t long before we saw our first quokka, there were plenty around the small shopping area close by the wharf.  With their dark brown fur and long hairless tail, it was no wonder that they were confused for a large rat at first sight.

Hello, quokka

Overnighting on Rottnest Island gave us two days to have a good look around,  and we  were picked up bright and early from the hotel by the courtesy coach and taken down to the ferry terminal to board the Rottnest Express.

The Rottnest Island ferry

The island is 11km in length and 4.5km at the widest point.  No domestic cars are allowed, only service vehicles and a few tour buses.  It is a bikers paradise, and hundreds of tourists hire bikes and pedal around the island each day.

Map of the island

No biking for us, we took the easy way to explore and boarded the bus for our “Discover Rottnest” tour. Just look at this lovely coastline.  The island is rugged and windswept, with great fishing, we were told, and lovely clear water.  Dolphins live in the waters, and whales come by on their annual migration.

We stopped at the imposing Wadgemup Lighthouse was built in 1896, with a 45,000 candle power revolving dioptric light.  This was the last lighthouse in Australia to become fully automatic, in 1986.  Wadgemup is the old aboriginal name for the island and means “place across the water where the spirits dwell”

At Wadgemup Lighthouse

There is a quaint little museum on the island, and I always like to check these out for old textiles.  No luck with that, but I did find a little hand operated sewing machine on display dating from the 1860s and used by the daughters of the light house keeper.

Ready for more quokka pictures?  As we toured the island the bus came to a quick stop to show us this little cutie having a snooze.  Seems they go to sleep all curled over.

 

Sleepytime quokka

And later we came across this quokka family.  The baby was keeping quite close to Mum.

Quokka family

We have returned to Perth for a couple of days, before embarking on our epic train trip across the bottom of Australia, leaving on Sunday.  Can’t wait, we love trains.