Rottnest - Day 3

The last day in Perth I went to Rottnest and booked free & easy tour there. I did A LOT of research and this place just attracted me <3 I love the sea and water so I was completely sold. 

Only dilemma I had was whether I should book the tour with bus, or rent a bike to cycle. and with snorkel equipments or without. Being fickle-minded, I couldnt make a decision and further researched and found out most people cycle on that island and the waters are damn clear. So, made the decision to book with snorkel equipment and rented bike = NEVER REGRETTED IT. I'll tell you why along the way.

Anyway, booked this tour with Adams Tour cause it was the cheapest since they had the summer special discount online - so 20% off (just checked and they seem to have seasonal discounts so that's good ^^)

p.s. the weather that day was awesome. IT WAS COOL. NOTHING LIKE THE PERTH SUMMER WEATHER. BEYOND BLESSED.

I dont know why some of my photos turn out black and white.... I dont remember editing them... TOO MANY PHOTOS TO EDIT (*only my instagram photos are edited)

Had my pick up at Fremantle jetty and took the Rottnest Express. There were a few pick ups to choose from and since it costs $20 cheaper, i chose this departure from Freo :) Had my pick up very early cause I didnt know how big the island was and I wanted to snorkel as much as possible and cycle at my own pace. my ferry back was also the 2nd last ferry - cause i was afraid that if i chose the last and missed it, i would be stranded on that isolated island.... :/

so yup, summary: 

Tip 1: choose the departure at freo jetty

Tip 2: pick an early ferry to rottnest, 2nd last back to freo

Tip 3: Get up the ferry early and get seats with good view. Was quite upset the seats with good view that was in the direction of the movement of ferry were all taken. So I had to make do with this view and was so close to getting motion sick. kept having to back face the view :'(

Landed to this amazing placeeee <3<3<3

The renowned Quoka. hehehehe.

They were SO approachable. When I tried taking photos of them, i was so afraid they were gonna run away, so i stood really far to get a photo of them. Then someone told me to just approach and not be afraid "they're friendly!" before I took the step, they already started approaching me and came closer for my to snap pictures ^^

It was all fun until I went down to snorkel.... HAD A PANIC ATTACK AND SCARE THE HELL OUT OF ME. 

So according the the map, there were a few recommended places to snorkel and since I coincidentally cycled to this ship wreck place that by knowledge, should have lots of fishes, I decided to go down to try snorkelling. Think it was this place... Henrietta Rock.

BUT BECAUSE IT WAS A SHIP WRECK, it was so dangerous - like the metal body was cutting my legs. and I also didnt know how to swim near it cause the current was SO STRONG too. When I wanted to give up, i didnt know how to get back to shore and had to step on top of the ship but the waves kept pushing me and making me fall T.T 

I really felt like i could have been so badly hurt. Had to calm myself down and organise my thoughts to try and get out of the ship wreck :'(

I DONT RECOMMEND SNORKELLING ALONE. SERIOUSLY. UNLESS YOU'RE A DIVER. 

Spent the rest of the time there catching my breath from panic attack and taking photos. hahaha.

Another quokka. They're literally everywhere. so when you visit this little island, you wont miss it.

While cycling to the lighthouse, I saw this place with a pathway to a damaged frame... Decided to be adventurous and walk up to it. I was pretty sure that the waves crashed and damaged it. thought twice whether I should go for it, like i wasnt sure how it will look like out there but it looked to me like people have been there so relatively safe. altho it looked like an old abandon lookout point.

Parker point was another snorkel spot. and since i was really tired of cycling (my butt was hurting sooooo badly - the seat wasnt very comfortable & cushion-y), I went down again to snorkel. didnt want my experience at the ship wreck to spoil the snorkel experience...

But this place was another disappointment. The water was very shallow and the spots near the shore was filled with seaweed, swimming amongst it felt really disgusting. I could see private yacht in deeper waters but to swim to the area where the yachts were probably would take 15mins and i dont even know how deep it will be there. so I didnt dare taking the risk. I probably would have had another panic attack if i did. GASP

Next stop for me was the lighthouse. When I reach this point, it was a dreadful steep hill..... decided to stop over at the table to take a break before attempting to cycle up the slope....

On the way back to the town, I passed by this pink lake that was a research area. I dont really know why only the shore was pink but it looked pretty <3

Lunch was at rottnest hotel, included in the tour package. ate A WHOLE PLATE of fruits cause fruits in perth was more expensive for some reasons. and after the whole day in the sun, i figured that fruits would give me some vitamins I need in case my immune system fails on me...

Then I had the amazing ice cream at this popular store while waiting for ferry departure time <3 

Although cycling for 5 hours was really painful, it was a good workout for me. and extremely therapeutic. I think touring by bus would have been so spoiled... And i would have explored so many the bus could not take me to. I really seen amazing views and had so much experiences that were worth my hard work of cycling. I didnt have to meet any time schedule and could just take my time and enjoy the scenery at every spot. LOVED IT <3

At the jetty, while waiting for Traci, I got to explore the area.

This E-shed market was quite cool. worth the visit. it's like the smaller version of freo market

That night, met up with the ocf western australia people i met at convy last year. They were just so nice and hospitable :') Just spending time with me to catch up was heartwarming <3