#3 Rottnest Island--Quokka, Seagull, Pelican and Bike!

We decided to visit Rottnest Island two days before we depart. Rottnest, 'Rat's-Nest' earned its name when a European captain found that this land was inhabited by rat-like looking creatures, know as quokka today. Then the name slowly adapted to Rottnest Island.

We bought promotion tickets to the island with bike combo, $59/pax. Cycling is the best way to explore the island as no motor vehicles are allowed on Rottnest. So here we go. Took a bike and exercise. The rain came just after we got off the jetty. We quickly locked the bike and seek for a shelter.

After the rain,we cycled along the coastlines. The sea water was crystal clear. Ocean was blue. Sea breeze blew gently to your face.Felt the water with your hand and it's surprisingly warmer as compared to this weather. We were both amazed by the spectacular sea view in front of us. What an amazing piece of Earth's wonder!

Helmet is a must if you were to cycle on the island.

Spot our bikes.

Windmill on the island.

We believed that this is quokka's home, because we found a lot of faces here. But we couldn't find them around, they probably went to the town for lunch?

The Cape.

Pink lake. A lake that has salt content 4 times higher than sea water.According to the signboard, it appeared pink because the microscopic algae, Dunaliella Salina grows on the salt crystal and contains beta-carotene ( the pigment we found in carrot and tomatoes).=P

The water was clear.If you were to taste, it was salty. Xt warned me after seeing me tasted the water, he said the algae can be dangerous, I could have stomach upset. =( Why not warn me earlier? But I was fine,hehe. Nothing happened.

 I goggled about Pink Lake later.There was no saying that it is dangerous. Very little organisms are able to survive there due to its high salts content. Dunaliella Salina survived by producing a lot of beta-carotene that helps protect it against the light that reflects off the salt. They even made cosmetics and supplements from the algae because they are rich in antioxidants.

We were curious whether this plant was originally in red or it was stained red by the water?

Quokka is the most well-known creature in this island. They are cute. In some angles, you found them smiling though they actually don't.They are so-called "The only rat that knows how to smile" and hence they are proudly awarded as 'The World's Happiest Animals'.

I did not expect it in the size of a cat until I first met them.Right outside DOME, a restaurant we got a shelter from an immediate rain.It has long tails, looks pretty like a huge rat.

Hello, Smile guys!

But it is tame and it does no harm to human beings. I mean not ruining the crops or destroying your furniture. They are timid. Get too close and they will run away.

Quokkas are vegetarian. They scavenged for fruits dropped on the ground. The second time I met them, they were busy looking for a brunch. They smelled like a dog, harvesting the nice one and leaving behind the rotten. At time I help them to look for those that are still in good-shaped.And they happily ate them up.

I really spent a long time squatted there, observed them and captured them. Call me quokka-obsessed.=P

The Rottnest Island Authority prohibited visitors to feed quokkas and the birds on the island. Feeding quokkas with chips, bread can make them sick. Plus, this can upset the population balance of these two species. 

Speaking about birds, yea, the seagull they did a 'good' job indeed.They really gave me bad impression lar. We happily bought ourselves Subway after cycling around the island, one ham and one turkey,which costed us $12.

Then, when xt was returning my hot yummy bread for me (we got some food exchange session). The damn bird flew to my face. It acted too fast, probably because she was being a thief for more than one time, and grabbed away my Subway from my hand :((( Leaving me behind with some bacon remnants and sauce, spilled over my shirt and bag.

I did not realize what was happening until I noticed that my bread was gone. It was an intentionally and well-planned rob lah. Wth. Xt and I couldn't stop laughing at this incident.*ggggrrrrr* It was driving me mad but when I recalled this stupid incident, I found it funny :D

My face, after seagull robbed my Subway.

I don't think I can forget their face. Seagull, you better remember this.

To prevent the bread from being stolen again, Xt finished his bread inside the Subway outlet. We told the waiter about this and he said :'Dangerous bird.' Why don't you warn us earlier? :'(

p/s: The seagulls and crows are going to hover around you whenever you got a food in your hand. Then, they will try their best to rob you.

Forget about this bird, we had a better bird sight-seeing at one of the beaches. (Rottnest has 63 beaches and 20 bays, if I'm not mistaken) We saw an Australian pelican! A huge one. We went nearer to take a picture of it.

Bear with me, I never spot a pelican before.And I never expect to see one here.That's why I was so exhilarated and astonished.

But we dare not to go too close to it right after the seagull-robbing experience. What if it found us annoyed and attacked us? If it flew straight to me, I could fall into the sea. Safety first. *nod nod*

A fun experience in Rottnest though!

We earned more #Firsttimeexperience over here.

First time:
Being robbed by seagull
Seeing a quokka
Seeing a pelican
Tasting water that is 4 times saltier than sea water