G'day, Mates!!
As some of you may know, I have a "Study Abroad" Bucket List. One of the things on this bucket list is to go to Rottnest Island, which is just off the coast of Perth.
Rottnest Island, more affectionately referred to as "Rotto", is a local hotspot. Therefore, I had to go see what all the hullaballoo was about myself. 10 friends and I booked an overnight trip to the island on a whim, and it turned out to be my favorite weekend here so far--there is no way that I am going to be able to explain this trip and do it justice for all of you, but I'll try my best! If anything, you'll be able to get an idea of the island's beauty from all the pictures--it was just unreal.
First, a bit of history on Rotto, courtesy of the handy-dandy-and-always-accurate Wikipedia:
"Rottnest Island was inhabited by Aboriginal people until rising sea levels separated the island from the mainland of Western Australia about 7,000 years ago. The island features in Noongar Aboriginal mythology as Wadjemup, meaning "Place across the water". Aboriginal artefacts on the island have been dated from 6,500 to more than 30,000 years ago."
After European occupation, Rottnest was used as a place to exile Aboriginal 'criminals', used as a prison, used as a boys reformatory camp, and an internment camp for suspected spies during World War I and II....yikes.
Now however, the island is all about happy tourists, pretty beaches, sunshine, and QUOKKAS.
Yes, Quokkas.
What is a quokka, you ask? WELL let's refer once again to wikipedia, shall we?!
"The quokka is herbivorous and mainly nocturnal. It can be found on Rottnest Island off the coast of Western Australia. The quokka was one of the first Australian mammals seen by Europeans. The Dutch mariner Samuel Volckertzoon wrote of sighting 'a wild cat' on Rottnest Island in 1658. In 1696 Willem de Vlamingh mistook them for giant rats and named the island 'Rotte nest', Dutch for 'rat nest'"
History aside, a quokka is the CUTEST THING YOU HAVE EVER SEEN--and they are ALL OVER the island. Quokkas are to Rotto as squirrels are to anywhere in the U.S... The cool part is, they only live in Rotto. They are an endangered species, and they don't have any predators on the island, which is why they can survive there (even though they are all inbred and socialized thanks to tourist season...) Needless to say, they're precious and they look like mini, furry kangaroos. kind of. Look at these faces! So CUDDLY!
So, to outline the trip for you, the 11 of us left Perth on a Friday morning, took the Rottnest Express Ferry to the island, checked into our island Villa (G.L.A.M.O.R.O.U.S. YEAH --you have to sing it, like Fergie) and spent the day exploring the island and its beaches.
Our villa overlooked the coast of the island, and it was perfect--I definitely don't hate island living :). This is how we spent our Friday: drinking ciders on the beach, lounging in the sun, and having an impromptu "family photoshoot" --something that we continued to do throughout the weekend :) Here's a few pictures of the area right around our house!
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| Our villa! |
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| Erica, Max, Brian, Alanna, and Eli |
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| View from our balcony |
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| Life is good |
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| Exploring |
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| The distant Perth skyline! |
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| Climbing these was a great idea until we couldn't figure out how to get down :) |
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| FAMILY PHOTOSHOOT, WE'RE SO CUTE |
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| Family Photoshoot |
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| Me and Max on the reef :) |
After spending a perfect day on our private stretch of the beach, we headed back to our villa to have a family dinner and to get acquainted with the house. Out of the 11 of us, 5 were American (me, Alanna, Erica, Brian, Ben), 1 German (Leon), 1 Italian (Glenda), and 4 Australians (Max, Erin, Katelin, and Eli). We were a perfect, multicultural group. Glenda is an INCREDIBLE cook, so she made us an amazing Italian dinner. We helped where we could, but no one's kitchen skills came close to matching hers.
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| Glenda, Alanna, and Erica making dinner |
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| The whole Rotto Family! |
After dinner, we explored the island a bit more, then called it a night, eager to start the next day with some more exploring and adventures.
The next morning, we checked out of our room at 9 am (WAY too early), and went to rent bikes to ride around the island. Rotto is a wildlife preserve, so there are no cars there. You either walk or bike, and its soooo cool.
We spent the majority of Saturday biking around. It was perfect because we were able to stop and explore wherever and whenever we wanted. The beauty of the island is astounding--I have never seen water or colors like the ones at Rotto.
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| Biking around Rotto! |
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| Kingstown Army Barracks |
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| Shipwreck--there were a bunch of these all along the coast! |
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| Erin, Brian, Max, Me, and Alanna |
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| Check out that wingspan |
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| I had a bit of a wildlife photoshoot |
As you can see, this place is stunning. I had the most wonderful time biking around--it was so quiet and beautiful. Everything you could hear was either the water hitting the cliffs we rode by, or the various animals in the bush surrounding us. Everyone loved it, and just being outside on such a beautiful day made the whole trip an incredible experience.
After a long day of biking, we had a barbecue on the beach for dinner and watched the sunset, until we had to leave to catch our ferry back home.
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| Rotto sunset |
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| The Rotto Ferry |
All in all, this trip was a blast. The island was unlike any place I have ever seen before, and the feeling of total independence we had while we were there was sublime. We had the freedom to explore as much as we wanted, and it was quite a thrill :) The natural and preserved beauty of the island is something that I won't forget.
I definitely understand why everyone raves about Rotto now, who couldn't love such a wonderful place?!
By the way, (for those who know me at BC) you might have seen a familiar face in some of those pictures! Brian came all the way from Sydney to visit us for a week! Brian is one of Erica, Alanna, and my good friends who is studying in Sydney this semester. He wanted to see the (much better) west coast, so while he was here, he was able to come along to Rotto. It was so crazy having those 2 worlds come together--the BC world and study-abroad-Australia world. It was great having a mini BC reunion, and it was so good to see him!
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| Alanna, Brian, and I |
So that's all I have on Rottnest Island...Now for my random observations-on-Austrlia part of this blog:
Observation #1:
They have "Kangaroo Bumpers" here. Also known as a "Roo Bar". What I thought were cool, stylistic additions to the fronts of cars here have in fact turned out to be bumpers that repel poor lil kangaroos who are innocently hopping in the road when WHAM! next thing they know they get hit by a car. Or a roo bar...Which doesn't look too comfy-cozy. Its purpose is to protect the car from "kangaroo damage". But to be honest, I'm more worried about the damage done to the kangaroo!
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| The big shiny silver thing on the front of the car? Yes, that's a Roo Bar. |
Observation #2:
They have drive-through liquor stores here.
DRIVE. THRU. LIQUOR. STORES.
How much more laid back can this country get? I love it. It's like McDonald's (Macca's) but for a liquor store (Bottle-o).
So much Aussie slang in there, I'm learning so much.
Observation #3:
Everyone told me that Aussies abbreviate words often.
They were wrong--Aussies abbreviate EVERYTHING.
For example, every time I introduce myself, I say "Hi I'm Rebecca". They respond, "Great to meet you, Bec!" without even batting an eyelash. Don't get me wrong, I love my new nickname, I just think its hilarious that its standard to abbreviate any and all words down to one syllable when possible.
For example:
Rottnest Island: Rotto
Cottesloe Beach: Cott
Fremantle (a beach town nearby): Freo
See what I mean? If it can be abbreviated, it is.
Observation #4:
VEGEMITE IS DISGUSTING. Vegemite is a cultural staple of Australia. Everyone warned me not to go near it. Did I listen? Of course not. From what I've seen, vegemite is a common spread for toast in the morning. Or a sandwich at lunch. With butter. Which is gross because Vegemite is "a dark brown Australian food paste made from yeast extract" (Thanks again, wikipedia). ITS YEAST EXTRACT! What food group is that??? its horrid. Don't ever go near it. Props to me I guess for broadening my cultural horizons and all by tasting it, but I never plan on going near it again. Its a salty, gooey, smelly, spread that I don't ever want to go on my bread (haha. that rhymes).
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| OH GOD THIS IS MY WORST NIGHTMARE. Poor, poor little girl. |
Observation #5:
Mental health is taken super seriously here! As a psych major, this is something I love, and is something we need to incorporate into the U.S.'s way of thinking. I keep getting caught off guard, because teachers and friends constantly ask how you're doing on a "deep" level. Mental health is taken just as as seriously as physical health. For example, during my first few lectures, all of my professors told my classes that if we were ever feeling overwhelmed/depressed/sad/anything, to go and talk to them and that they will happily organize something in order to help us. All of my professors said that if we were having a bad day, had a bad break-up, or were feeling down, that those feelings were just as important to them as anything else that we may be feeling. That, I think, is an incredibly important stance to have, and is one I really respect. At BC, mental health is rarely considered as a factor if someone appears to be struggling. If I told s professor at BC that I had a bad break up and honestly needed an extension on homework or something, I think most professors would laugh in my face. I don't say that to be mean, its just that mental health is not taken seriously in professional situations back home. People assume a "rub some dirt on it and get over it" position, which is one of the worst ways mental health could be handled. BC has a 3 strikes and you're out policy--if you take a mental health leave of absence from the school 3 times, you're a goner. If you miss school for a funeral, you have to have a signed note from the funeral home in order to get an excused absence from classes. Isn't that just wrong? I've been doing a lot of thinking about it since I've seen how seriously the Aussies take mental health here. Its importance here gives me hope that those ideals will carry over to other countries like the U.S., because it is definitely something that impacts everyone and deserves more attention than what it is currently getting.
Sorry guys, serious tangent just there. The wanna-be-psychologist in me has been celebrating over here for quite some time, and was just dying to get out to tell you all.
To end on a lighter note, I'm going to Bali next week for spring break! Get excited for the pictures and blog post to follow--that trip is going to be absolutely euphoric.
Love all of you! Here's another picture of Vegemite, to remind you of how lucky you are to not be plagued by this monstrosity (if you're reading from the U.S.)
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| Mmmm! Concentrated yeast extract! |
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| What's any blog post without a South Park meme. |
Love you all! Til next time!
Cheers,
Rebecca/Bec :)
