Hi, everyone! This week, I went to check out the Rio Tinto Christmas Light trail with Kory and then spent an entire day at Rottnest Island. I had really been looking forward to a return trip to Rottnest, and it ended up being a FULL DAY.

Rio Tinto Christmas Lights

Perth, known as the City of Lights, had set up a “trail” of Christmas lights throughout the city to check out. Kory wanted to go one evening, so after work we set off to explore the lights. I had seen some while walking around the city, but it was cool to make an evening of it.

Along the way, we saw giant koalas, donuts, candy canes, flamingoes, and more.

We stopped for milkshakes and after not having pet a dog for three months, I asked the lady next to me in line if I could pet hers. It was GLORIOUS. Between my parents and brothers, there are five dogs in our family and I used to get a lot of dog-lovin’ in, but since I’ve been in Perth, I haven’t had the opportunity to pet any dogs. The time had come. The lady was really nice and we talked for a little bit about how her kids are currently in America but coming back home for the holidays.

My favorite Christmas lights were of the kangaroos, and a light display that was projected onto one of the churches downtown. It had animations of a black Jesus, Mary, Joseph, a surfing Santa, black swans, and more. It was really cute!

Rottnest Island

Pretty much immediately after my birthday trip to Rottnest, I booked myself another trip there. I wasn’t sure what the weather would be like, but I wanted to chance it. I felt that when I first went to Rottnest, or “Rotto,” it was too short. I wanted a full day of snorkeling and exploring.

After working until midnight the night before, I woke up at… 5.15am. Yes, you read that right! I got probably less than four hours of sleep haha.

Unfortunately, public transit doesn’t really start until after 6am, so I took a pricy Uber down to Fremantle to get on the 7am ferry. My return ferry wasn’t until 9pm, so I had the entire day to spend in Rottnest.

First on the list, Henrietta Rocks!

Henrietta Rocks

I had heard Henrietta Rocks was a great snorkeling spot, but unfortunately nobody was snorkeling when I got there. As I’ve mentioned in the past, I don’t like to snorkel alone. It’s always best to have a snorkel buddy! And if not, it’s good to just snorkel around other people.

Henrietta Rocks is home to “Shark,” which is a shipwreck from 1939. Like Omeo, shipwrecks are a great spot for marine life as coral and seagrass reclaims the ship, attracting fishies.

Despite not snorkeling there (yet), it was cool to see bits of the wreck popping out of the water.

Since Henrietta Rocks was a bust for snorkeling, I moved on to Parker Point, which I’d heard was a more popular spot.

Parker Point

Parker Point! Lots of boats were hanging out a little bit off the beach, so I was hopeful. The water looked incredible, but I wasn’t seeing anyone snorkeling. I figured maybe it was too early in the morning as it was only about 9am at this time. But then… someone WAS snorkeling!

The dude came back to shore and I asked him how they navigated it. He asked if I wanted him to go back in with me and I said yes. I can’t remember his name, but he’s from Victoria and was here with his cousin. He said to give him a few minutes to warm up. I talked with his cousin – who is from Western Australia – for a little bit, but then Mr. Victoria and I went into the water.

We walked into the water and stepped over seagrass. I was very hesitant because I didn’t want to step on any pointy things and was pretty amazed by Mr. Victoria’s bravery. I followed him, trusting that I wouldn’t step on a sea anenome or sharp rock along the way. He managed to get us into the deeper sections safely.

The water felt cold and it was windy outside, so I was hating myself for potentially picking the wrong day to come to Rottnest, but once I submerged myself in the water, I felt better.

At first, there weren’t too many fish… but then they started to appear. There were lots of little fish hanging out in the seagrass, and I even saw a jellyfish. Mr. Victoria’s prized moment was spotting a crawfish that was hiding in a “cave” of sorts. I didn’t see the crawfish and as he dove down to get a closer look, he kicked up lots of sand, making the water murky.

After a while, we were both cold and decided to head back to shore. Saying thanks for the snorkel, we parted ways.

Jeannie’s Lookout

Quick honorary mention here… at Rottnest, there is a lookout called Jeannie’s Lookout. My dear friend Joey’s mom’s name is Jeanne and it’s pronounced the same way, so close enough! This one’s for you, Jeanne! Miss you, pool days, and your bruschetta!

Little Salmon Bay

I went to Little Salmon Bay next. I had visited there on my first day at Rottnest, but decided to return. While I enjoyed the snorkel the first time, I hadn’t ventured very far. Today, plenty of people were out snorkeling – and quite far out, too.

I am so glad I returned to Little Salmon Bay, because it was perhaps my favorite snorkel of the day.

There were so many fish out and about. Some of them were HUGE! I also saw this incredibly vibrant blue/purple coral, that nearly made me do an underwater gasp when I first saw it.

Plenty of fish I had never seen before made an appearance at Little Salmon Bay and while the water was cold, it was so clear and perfect. I’m glad I braved the cold.

After my snorkel, I wrapped myself in my hoodie and shivered for a little while then laid out in the sun. I think I fell asleep, being so underslept.

When I woke up, it was about 1.30pm and I got back on the bus to continue to the north side of the island. Allegedly, the northern snorkeling spots are better in the afternoon.

Little Armstrong Bay

When I got to Little Armstrong Bay, I spotted a quokka and her baby in the wild. I stopped to watch them for a moment, crouched down on one knee. The momma jumped up and came to examine me – perhaps seeing if I had any food. She got up on her hind legs and pressed her nose to my knee. I was so touched!

I had seen quokkas my first time at Rottnest, but they were all around “The Settlement,” which is the only town area with rental properties and grocery stores on Rottnest. The quokkas are known to hang out there because they eat people’s food. That said, I heard it’s kind of rare to see the quokkas outside The Settlement, so I was so pleased to encounter these guys and to have such an intimate experience.

A 10 year old kid came to look at the quokkas, too, followed by his mother. I talked with his mom a little bit. She is from the UK but has been living in Western Australia. We talked about Western Australia’s lockdown, quokkas, and Chicago. She had gone to Bradley University in Peoria – which isn’t very far from Chicago. What a small world this is at times.

Similarly to Mr. Victoria, it was a brief encounter and then we parted ways – likely never to see each other again.

Little Armstrong Bay was cool, too! Lots of seagrass, and some limestone formations. More fishies, but the water was getting a little murky at this point. Now that it was later in the day, the water was feeling even colder – as was I.

I laid out again… and fell asleep again.

I jumped to, realizing I had a bus to catch. And I missed that bus! So I walked from Little Armstrong Bay, back to the Settlement, which was about an hour walk. Along the way, I saw the largest wild spider I had ever seen. Yikes!

I briefly hung out at the Settlement to eat some food, then went to The Basin for (potentially) one final snorkel. It was around 5.15pm by this time.

The Basin

I wasn’t sure if I would go in the water, because the sun was starting to go down and it was getting colder… but I was energized by seeing some other people out snorkeling. I really wanted to check out The Basin, because it’s only a 10min walk from the Settlement and I had heard the spot mentioned a number of times when looking at good snorkeling spots at Rottnest. If I liked The Basin, I pretty much don’t have to get a bus pass ($25 AUD) next time I go to Rottnest, since The Basin and Little Salmon Bay are both short walks from the Settlement. Not that $25 is too much, but a trip at Rotto quickly becomes very expensive. I luckily get a really solid discount from my job but most people don’t have that luxury. Between an Uber down to Fremantle, the to/from ferries, and a bus pass for the day, a trip to Rottnest is easily over $100.

My snorkel at The Basin was brief, but lovely. I saw my old friends, the parrotfish! Since I went to Hawaii for the first time, I have always liked seeing parrotfish. They’re quite goofy looking!

I also saw some small schools of fish hanging out.

The Basin seemed on par with Little Salmon Bay, with a lot to explore. With that said, I needed to get out of the water and warm up. It had been a pretty chilly day and while the snorkeling was incredible, my body was tired of the wind+water combo.

I hung out in the area until sunset, and then went back to The Settlement.

The Settlement

The amount of quokkas hanging out near The Settlement at night is… insane. There are SO many! Rottnest actually means Rat’s Nest in Dutch – when settlers first came over, they thought the quokkas were giant rats.

I touched on this a bit last time, but man… people are so disappointing at times. There was a festival going on while I was at Rottnest, so lots of people (drunk people?) were there. Rottnest is popular for bike hires, so people are constantly riding bike around everywhere. I witnessed kids pretending to run over quokkas, riding their bikes nearly three inches in front of the quokkas. Someone pretended they were going to kick a quokka. Kids were feeding the quokkas. An older couple passed by at one point and said, “they have no respect for wildlife” and boy, do I agree. It was very disappointing. I tried to ignore it, observing the quokkas during my final hour on the island. I even got to see a momma quokka with her joey popping out of her pouch!

The sun went down and my final act of the day was going to a dark spot to look at the stars. You can see lots of stars from downtown Perth, but I hadn’t had a clear night outside of the city yet where I could see them in their glory. They were really lovely. I took a moment to thank my HP for getting me here, for watching over me and keeping me sober and all that jazz. And then I began my journey home! How I didn’t end up with sunburn, I’ll never know. I was in the sun all day long and am not hurting at all today.

It was a great snorkeling day at Rottnest. I’m looking forward to returning even more over the coming months.

Reflections

Bauble = ornaments
Come off it = oh, shut up
Frothing = really loving/gagging for something
Gutted = devastated
Feral = wild/crazy person
Winge = to whine
Legend = as in “you’re a legend, Steven”
Knackered = exhausted
Crack on = continue on/get through it

It has been a good week! I’m so glad I got to go to Rottnest.

I have today and tomorrow off work as well. Originally, I had wild plans to go out of town, but I am taking today to just really chill out and do nothing. I turned off my alarm and slept in until 12.45pm. I was exhausted from such short sleep the night before. I will probably draw something today, and then just watch TV and movies the rest of the evening.

Tomorrow, I think I might go snorkeling at Coogee Beach! Other than that, I don’t have any wild plans for the coming days.

I hope the snorkeling bit isn’t that boring for you, the reader. I know I’ve touched on that before, but it really brings me so much happiness to be out with the fish. It’s like another world I get to explore, and you never know what you’re going to see. I’m going to continue snorkeling any chance I get while out in Perth – but I’ll be doing other stuff, too, surely.

Christmas is coming up and I have both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day off work, which is awesome. It doesn’t feel like Christmas, for me. Even with the lights and the Santa hats out and about. Christmas for me will always be snow and cold weather. Homemade cookies made by my mom, and hiding from the cold, under the blankets. With that said… I am happy to be escaping the cold this year!

Art of the Week

Unfortunately, I don’t have an art of the week to share with you all. Artistically, I have been feeling a little stumped, to be honest. Maybe I need to take a little break from art, until I’m actually feeling inspired by a new theme or something. Sometimes I force it – I just draw something, even if I’m not feeling it.

I am going to try something out today or tomorrow, but we’ll see what comes of it. If it works, I’ll share it next week!

Until next time. Sending you all my love!