We’ve had yearly stays at Rottnest for the last three or four years. Eversley books a cottage months in advance and if we are in town (and somehow we always manage to be available), we join her for a short holiday. 

Note: there are no photos of Eversley here, but she is in the video.

We have usually travelled from Fremantle Jetty, although one year we travelled down river from the Barrack Street Jetty, then caught the ferry in Fremantle. This year I wanted to try something different. Eversley travels on the ferry from Hillarys and we decided to join her, driving up to Hillarys. This meant that we only had to take our cases a short distance to the pick up point. On return, we picked them up from the same place and it certainly beats taking our bags on public transport.

Eversley then guided us via phone to the dock where the ferry was waiting. We boarded fairly quickly and were able to get our preferred seats at the back on windows.

I had been waiting for a coffee, but was out of luck getting a hot coffee on the ferry as they had forgotten to stock up on coffee beans. I had a canned coffee instead.

It was a sunny day and the sea was fairly calm, so a good day for the crossing. As it was Sunday the ferry was full, though we could look forward to a quiet couple of days on the island for Monday and Tuesday, with fewer tourists.

On arrival we waited at the Dome for our cottage to be available. Although the official time is 2.00 p.m. we were able to get in at about 1.00 p.m. We dropped off our things and went to the local store to get some essentials, such as bananas, milk and yogurt.

We had an evening meal at Frankie’s and it was mild enough to sit outside in a sheltered spot.

On Monday we parted ways after coffee at the outdoor cafe in the newly renovated Rottnest Lodge. Stephen and I went to catch the train to Olive Hill, with the intention of walking from there to the Light House, whilst Eversley did other things.

The train journey was noisy, but being on it meant we travelled through parts of the island where we hadn’t been before, so it was interesting. The journey finished by going uphill to the aptly named Olive Hill, where there was quite a good view.

The Lighthouse didn’t seem very far away. We were warned that it was quite a challenging walk, but in fact it didn’t seem difficult and the only steep uphill part was right at the end. At the top we were delighted to find a caravan selling coffees and food. We opted for toasties and fruit juice as I’d already had two coffees.

After lunch we walked the rest of the way up to the Lighthouse, about 100m. When we left it was about a 600m walk down to the bus stop to catch the hop on hop off bus that goes around the island. We were really happy to just go back to the settlement and to our cottage.

We picked up some food at the store and had dinner at home. We had thought of pizza, but having the toasties at lunch time had rather spoiled our appetite for a similar type of meal. We bought some Thai curries, not really that nice, but filled us up.

It became very cloudy in the afternoon and by evening it was raining and there was a strong wind. We were happy to stay in and watch TV.

By Tuesday morning the weather had cleared to another lovely, sunny day. Stephen went on a walk to the lookout beyond Kingston Barracks and Eversley and I stayed near the settlement. We planned to go to the Lodge for an evening meal on our last night and Eversley booked us a spot with comfortable chairs where we could watch the sunset.

When we ordered dinner we moved to a dining table further inside. It was chilly and we wanted to be as warm as possible. When we returned to the cottage we tried out the heater, but it kept throwing an error message. We felt it was too late to ring up and complain, but apparently that’s what we should have done. We wrapped ourselves up in shawls and blankets instead.

Leaving day it’s good to get up early as we have to have our bags packed and outside the gate by 8.00 a.m. They are picked up by the ferry company and we don’t see them again until we arrive back. We also had to vacate by 9.00 a.m., but that gave us an extra hour and we were all ready in time. Eversley and I went for a coffee and Stephen had a bit of a walk around the settlement.

There were very few of us leaving at 11.30 a.m., so again we got good seats. It was another mild and sunny day.

At Hillarys we felt ready for lunch and went to the Dome, where we sat outside, but sheltered, with views of the the inner harbour. We felt that it was the continuation of a very lovely few days away.

Of course, we were all glad to actually get back home afterwards. I was so relaxed that I didn’t check on a couple of things planned for Thursday night and Friday morning, I was thinking they were happening the following week. However, I am all caught up now.

We did some filming. I took the camera around the cottage to make sure we remember it clearly. I think it is the fourth year because I think we may have had two years in one cottage, a different one last year, and a different one this year. Each time we feel like we’ve been very lucky to get such a nice place to stay.

I filmed the train ride and walk to Rottnest, and Stephen also filmed some of his walk to the lookout. I did a quick edit, which was pretty boring in parts, so I’ve done another edit this morning, taking out many bits that were too long and repetitive. I’ve also changed the order of some things and had to reapply the music. Hopefully, this is a much better edit. We showed Matt the first one and he got a bit bored.

I feel we should do what they do with the Olympics and vote this Rottnest trip as the best so far. Perhaps it always feels like that when we’ve just been away and feeling relaxed and refreshed.

PS: we saw lots of quokkas, but that is normal on the Island.