Before I talk about Perth or any other Australian goodness let’s talk about the whole reason I started my adventure in Western Australia, the quokka!
Anybody who knows me knows that I am huge sucker for a cute animal and they really don’t come much cuter than quokkas.
(I mean just look at that face)
I first heard about these furballs of joy three years ago, in the way I ashamedly get most of my life information, through reading an article on buzzfeed and I immediately knew I needed to find these babies and smuggle one home to be my lifelong friend! A couple of years ago I got my chance and when visiting Sydney happened across a few of these friendly critters at a couple of wildlife parks around the city. And oh my god were they even cuter in real life but I could not get enough of the cuties and therefore planned my return to Australia in a way that I could go to the homeland of the friendliest creatures on earth Rottnest Island!
Fun quokka fact Rottnest was discovered by the Dutch whilst searching for Australia they thought it was full of large rats and thus named the island Rottnest (rats nest) of course these rats were really quokkas and the Dutch were fools to just turn around and leave without making friends!
Today Rottnest is just a short ferry ride from Perth and attracts ever increasing crowds of tourists everyday. Completely car and predator free this island is a haven for quokkas and it’s impossible to miss these furry fiends. Top quokka tip if you go on a Tuesday it’s half price so you can get a return ferry and bike hire for the day for $69. And so that’s what I did hopped on a ferry, rented myself a bike and took off around the island to find myself a quokka. An hour in I was starting to panic that I wouldn’t find one and then all of a sudden he just peeped out of the bushes and I was gone. They weren’t lying when they said they were the friendliest of all creatures, and they have literally no fear of humans. This little guy just wandered right on over and instantly became my best friend. Which coincidentally makes it incredibly easy to get your obligatory quokka selfie!
I really needn’t have worried about not spotting one because after that they just appeared from everywhere and it was the best day ever! I could have scooped all of them up and just carried them away with me. Of course they are still wild animals so you can’t feed them, as tempting as it is, it might make them very sick. Neither should you touch them, however when one gets his nose in between the zips of your bag and crawls inside you kind of need to pick the little fella up and haul them back out!
If you’re down for beautiful beaches, hidden sandy coves, seal colonies, whale watching, gorgeous lakes and the cutest animals Rottnest is an absolute must see. It’s now top of my places to holiday when I’m rich! If you can drop by Western Australia on your travels down under be sure to go meet the quokkas and make yourself a few new friends!
Scattered Thoughts 