Photo Essay: A tour of Rottnest Island in Western Australia
You guys, Rottnest Island may just be the most beautiful island I’ve ever visited. Or perhaps a better way to put it, however, may be that it’s one of the world’s most beautiful convenient islands, since it’s just a half-hour ferry ride from the Western Australia city of Perth. The name Rottnest, translated "rat's nest," comes from Dutch sea-captain Willem de Vlamingh, mistaking the island's cute marsupial quokkas for giant rats. But I assure you, there's nothing ratty or rotten about Rottnest Island.
No other place was recommended more on my trip to Western Australia (hosted by Tourism Australia and Tourism Western Australia) than Rottnest Island, also known as “Rotto,” by locals. And it was for good reason. You can do in a day, without a car, what it’d take days to do on some of the world’s most beautiful islands with a car. In just one day you can boat (or bicycle) the entire island, paddleboard crystal-clear emerald waters, view a lighthouse, sunbath on a beach you have entirely to yourself, and snorkel among schools of fish. Oh, and did I mention that it’s just stupid-beautiful?
But while I’ll be bringing you more of the 4-1-1 soon on what to see and do on Western Australia’s Rottnest Island, today I’m coming to you with a tour of Rottnest Island in photos. I’ll just let the photos do the talking.
