Day 5 (November 7)

Sitting here after a hot meal of pasta and vegetables, I have time to assess what events of the day are worthy of your time.  First order of business, I would like to proudly announce that I did not get sea sick on the thirty minute ferry ride from the Rous Head ferry terminal to Rottnest Island.  As I have a strong disposition towards sea sickness, this is quite the accomplishment (Scott was also quite pleased with my lack of visceral performance).

The next, most obvious, topic to be summarized are the quokkas.  Quokkas are an isolated species of marsupial that lives without natural predators on this 19 square kilometer island.  Likely because the main mode of population control for this species is disease, dehydration and parasites, the animals are sedate in their movements and incredibly agreeable towards humans.

Quokka!

Yes, obviously I enjoyed the quokkas, but I did feel guilty in luring them to us with fresh leaves and water.  These cat sized creatures have rabbit soft fur that is as mangy as a whitetail deer’s coat in summer… with a rat-tail.

Tomorrow (after I buy a pair of swimming goggles) we will ride around the island visiting more white sand beaches, interior salt lakes and new and exciting plant communities. Scott is, thus far, doing a spectacular job of entertaining my plant-nerdiness.

Two nights on Rottnest then we head back to the mainland for the commencement of the “real ride”.

Posted by Mattie