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Part 1 of 10Western Australia, 2017

Back to Rottnest Island, This Time for the Night

The start of a family holiday in Western Australia, and a return to Rottnest Island with a friend, this time with a night on the island.

By Thawaio1 min read2–3 April 2017 · Perth and Rottnest Island

A curving bay of turquoise and deep blue water with motor boats at anchor, edged by a long white beach and low holiday units on the slope, seen from a height through a slightly smudged window.
A bay on Rottnest Island, seen from the island bus.

In April 2017, we spent almost two weeks in Western Australia as a family. There were five of us: my wife, our son, my parents-in-law and me.

We arrived in Perth on 2 April. For the first part of the trip, we had booked Bella Vista at Clifftop Apartments in South Perth, from 2 to 8 April.

The very next morning, we were on our way to Rottnest Island.

Returning to Rottnest

This time, we went with the same friend I had first explored Rottnest with in 2013, and his daughter. With my family of five, there were seven of us altogether.

On that earlier visit, we hadn’t managed to explore as much of the island as we wanted. So this time, we deliberately booked a night on the island instead of trying to fit everything into a single day.

We set off from Fremantle on the Rottnest Express.

A wide concrete wharf with yellow markings and a bollard, running towards a white building with a large curved roof, with calm blue water and a breakwater beyond under a cloudless sky.
The wharf at Fremantle, early in the morning.
A red and white ferry with red spots crossing a calm harbour, with port cranes, sheds and containers along the far shore.
A Rottnest Express ferry in the harbour.
Two white motor cruisers moored among yellow buoys in calm blue water, with a low rocky island on the horizon at left.
Boats moored off the island.
A red and white spotted Rottnest Express ferry tied up at the jetty, with bicycles and passengers gathering their bags on the paved landing.
Arriving on Rottnest.

Around the island

Many people get around Rottnest by bicycle, but cycling wasn’t practical for my parents-in-law. Instead, we explored on foot and used the island’s shuttle and sightseeing bus.

A small beach with pale sand and dried seaweed in the foreground, a short jetty, inflatable water toys floating in the calm water, and low buildings and trees along the shore.
The beach near the settlement.
A steep wooden staircase with white handrails climbing a sandy dune covered in green scrub, under a bright sky with the sun at top right, and a few people at the top.
Steps up the dunes.

Several of the photographs from that afternoon were taken through the bus window, and the smudges on the glass are still there. I’ve kept them anyway, because they show the island the way we saw much of it that day.

A road winding through low green scrub towards the sea, with a group of visitors in hats walking along a path beside a picnic table, seen through a bus window.
A stop along the island road.
A curving bay of turquoise and deep blue water with motor boats at anchor, edged by a long white beach and low holiday units on the slope, seen from a height through a slightly smudged window.
A bay seen from the bus.

A night on the island

We stayed in a six-bed North Heritage View unit.

We enjoyed the sunset that evening. We had dinner on the island and walked around afterwards.

The night was peaceful and quiet, and we could hear the waves.