Rottnest Island (Day 2) - Perth, Western Australia

Day 2 in Rottnest Island....

I woke up feeling pain in all my leg muscles and buttocks! It feels like they don't belong to me when I start to walk. I almost gave up on today's cycling journey. Our initial plan was to complete the bike rides for the whole of Rottnest Island - 22km within 2 days. There's 3 types of suggested bike rides in Rottnest Island:

a) Ride 1 - 4k Too easy 1/2 - 1 hour ( The Settlement - Garden Lake - Lake Herschel - Geordie Bay - Longreach Bay - The Basin - Bathurst Lighthouse - The Settlement )

b) Ride 2 - 10km Relax or snorkel 1 1/2 - 3 hours ( The Settlement - Thomson Bay - Kingstown - Henrietta Rocks - Porpoise Bay - Vera Rocks - Parker Point - Little Salmon Bay - Salmon Point - Salmon Bay - Serpintine Lake - Government House Lake - Garden Lake - The Settlement )

c) Ride 3 - 22km Whole of island 3 - 5 hours ( The Settlement - Thomson Bay - Kingstown - Henrietta Rocks - Porpoise Bay - Vera Rocks - Parker Point - Little Salmon Bay - Salmon Point - Salmon Bay - Green Island - Rocky Bay - Roland Smith Memorial - Marjorie Bay - Cape Vlamingh - Marjorie Bay - Roland Smith Memorial - Rocky Bay - Stark Bay - Ricey Beach - City of York Bay - Catherine Bay - Little Armstrong Bay - Parakeet Bay - Geordie Bay - Longreach Bay - The Basin - Bathurst Lighthouse - The Settlement )

We have completed Ride 2 on our first day in Rottnest Island which took us around 4 hours bike ride. I don't want to give up so easily and "do nothing" on my final day in Rottnest Island. Hence I decided to continue our cycling journey despite the pain. We had the leftover lasagne and garlic bread for breakfast. Still taste good after reheating it in an oven. We checked out from Thomson Bay South around 8am and returned the keys to the Visitor Centre. Click here to read my previous blog on Thomson Bay South.

Next to the Visitor Centre, there's an electronic locker hire. We hired a locker to keep our stuff before continuing our cycling journey. This time it took us around 4 1/2 hours. We passed by Garden Lake - Lake Herschel - Serpintine Lake - Green Island - Rocky Bay - Roland Smith Memorial - Marjorie Bay - Cape Vlamingh - Fish Hook Bay - Marjorie Bay - Roland Smith Memorial - Rocky Bay - Green Island - Wadjemup Lighthouse - Serpintine Lake - Lake Herschel - Garden Lake - Thomson Lake - Government House Lake - Airport - Government House Lake - The Settlement - Island Jetty. It was a hilly ride and most of the time I need to stepped down from my bike and pushed it up the hill!

Rottnest Island map

Electronic locker hire

Info: Medium lockers hire charges: 12 hours - $6, 24 hours - $8. No refund for user error. This machine does not give change or refund money. Only accept 10c, 20c, 50c, $1 & $2. The locker can be continuously accessed within the hire time period.

Warning: You MUST return before your locker rental expires as locker returns to public use.

Thomson Bay

Garden Lake 

Lake Herschel

Rocky Bay

Roland Smith Memorial

Marjorie Bay

Cape Vlamingh

Cape Vlamingh

 

Cape Vlamingh

Cape Vlamingh

Cape Vlamingh also known as West End is the most westerly point of Rottnest Island. The view, simply breathtaking! All my hard work has paid off. However, be careful of unstable cliffs and venomous snake at this site. Large pods of dolphins are often seen frolicking in the waves off Cape Vlamingh. Looking down the coast towards Cathedral Rocks, a colony of New Zealand Fur Seals may be seen sunning themselves on the surface of the water. West End experiences wind gusts of up to 118km/h due to its exposed position. 

Humpback whales are well-known to Rottnest Island due to their annual migrations up and down the Western Australian coastline. July to October is the best time to spot these whales. Humpback whales leave Antarctica every autumn to breed in warm tropical waters.

Road to Wadjemup Lighthouse

Wadjemup Lighthouse

Wadjemup Lighthouse entrance

The original Rottnest Island lighthouse was constructed using locally quarried limestone and took nine years to build. The first stone lighthouse in Western Australia was built here on Wadjemup Hill in 1851. It was replaced by the present lighthouse, which is twice the height of the original lighthouse in 1896. The light house initially burned coconut oil, later colza oil and then kerosene. In 1936, the lighthouse was converted to electricity. There's a backup diesel generator in case of power failures.

Wadjemup Lighthouse Tour conducted every 30 minutes. First tour begins at 11am with tour continuing until the final tour at 2.30pm. Maximum 10 persons per tour and children under 5 years not permitted. Persons with heart or breathing problems are warned against attempting to climb steep stairway leading to light.

Admission fee:

Adult - $9

Concession - $7

Child (5 to 12 years) - $4

Family (2 + 2) - $20

Extra child - $2 

Emergency phone

We spotted an emergency phone on the way to Wadjemup Lighthouse. Only for emergency case, pick up handset automatically and dial 000.

Quokka

Quokka dung

Jimmy Woods Terminal

Government House Lake

 The Settlement

The Settlement

Thomson Bay

Finally we have completed our bicycle ride in Rottnest Island! However, we did not passed by Stark Bay, Ricey Beach, Longreach Bay, The Basin and Bathurst Lighthouse as we need to catch our 2.15pm ferry back to B-Shed Fremantle. We returned our bikes and had our lunch at Subway. Five simple steps to order your food:

Step 1 - Choose your bread (Flatbread, Italian Herbs & Cheese, White, Honey Oat, Multigrain or Wheat)

Step 2 - Any Cheese? (Cheedar, Natural Swiss, Old English or Mozzarella)

Step 3 - Extras (Double up on your meat or add cheese)

Step 4 - What salads would you like? (Lettuce, Tomato, Cucumber, Onion, Spinach, Capsicum, Carrot, Olives, Jalapenos or Pickles)

Step 5 - Which sauce would you like? (Low fatt: Tomato, BBQ, Sweet Onion, Sweet Chili, Hot Chili or Honey Mustard, Full flavour: Mayo, Thousand Island, Ranch or Chipotle)

We ordered A la-carte six inch tuna and a set meal deal $8.95. (comes with a six inch sub, fit chips and Coke). There's plenty of bench and tables outside the restaurant and we had our lunch there. You will probably find that if you're eating food outside, seagulls will come to you. Please do not feed them! Do not leave your food unattended because the seagulls will attack your plate!

Fries & Coke

Turkey meal deal - $8.95

Tuna six inch sub (A la-carte) - $7

Address:

Subway

Rottnest Island

Operating hours: Sunday - Thursday 8.00 am - 7.00 pm

Friday & Saturday 8.00 am - 8.00 pm

My two days cycling journey in Rottnest Island had been a most enjoyable, interesting and fruitful experience. We even saw snakes crossing the road and Quokkas were everywhere! It was a truly unforgettable views...

Good bye Rottnest Island