Perth, Rottnest Island, And Ridiculously Cute Quokkas. All You Need To Know

I am currently in Perth, Australia, and recently went to Rottnest Island to see the quokkas. There was information I would have liked to have known in advance, and I thought it might be helpful to share it.

What are Quokkas and where are they found?

Quokkas are marsupials and are roughly the same size as a rabbit. Or a big house cat. At first glance, they look a bit like huge rats, which is why the Dutch explorers called the island Rottnest – ‘rot’ is for ‘rat’, spelt by a sailor. But when you get closer, there are some major differences. For one, they are really cute, seem to smile and don’t emanate an air of menace. They also hop, are curious, and pretty chilled. I love the little things.

They can be found on the mainland and a couple of islands, but tend to be elusive and mostly nocturnal. But if you want to see some – Rottnest Island is the place to go. It has the largest population of quokkas, and they are completely unafraid of humans. Better still, because humans are messy with their food, quite a few of them come out during the day.

How to get to Rottnest Island and general timings

We took the Rottnest Express from B Shed in Fremantle. You can check out the Rottnest Express ferry site here. We were staying around 20 minutes from Fremantle, and the ferry only takes about 30 minutes from there.

At the time of writing, it costs $72 AUD each for a return, so $144 AUD in total. This includes the island admission fee of $42 AUD. So, just under $100 USD in total for two people. Which is pretty decent.

As a writer, I don’t do early, so we took the 10:45 am ferry and booked the 5 pm return. I knew quokkas were mostly nocturnal, so you are more likely to see more of them at dawn or dusk, but we took a chance. I was also worried that it might be packed, as it was a Sunday.

My worries were unfounded.

Arrival at Rottnest Island

The ferry was nice and comfy, and we managed to snag some good seats outside at the back. The ferry has a cafe and toilets, but I didn’t use either.

We arrived and disembarked, and I was very slightly disappointed not to be immediately engulfed in quokkas. We walked up and headed for the main square to buy water and souvenirs. It isn’t a big town, but there is a bakery, food, a supermarket, a Subway, and so forth.

Plus, there were quokkas!

I was a bit surprised that people weren’t going mental over them. Everyone there was presumably from an earlier ferry, but apart from the odd ‘Ohh!’ at a quokka with a baby in its pouch, it seemed like they were old hat for those wandering around.

We then set off north to a lighthouse and began a big loop. We bumped into several more quokkas on the way and crossed multiple beaches. There was a fairly posh place quite close to the lighthouse, but we followed the coastline until we hit a place called Geordie’s Cafe and Art Gallery. This was less posh, and it had decent sandwiches and iced coffee. Plus more quokkas wandering around.

One thing you might not know is that the beaches are bloody lovely. Tourists come for the quokkas, but there were quite a few people chilling on the beaches. Chilling as in relaxing, it was pretty hot.

We then cut inland and did a big loop through some lakes, which were nice enough. We were the only maniacs on foot. There were quite a few people flying past us on bicycles, but it wasn’t too hot, so walking was nice. Plus, it gave us an air of superiority.

Our route looped back to the town, taking us past a church and bungalows and so on. It was here that we met the cutest quokka, who thought I might have some food. (DON”T FEED THE QUOKKAS!)

We then found something bizarre, which seemed really common in Perth. Loads of things shut early. Like cafes sometimes close at 2 pm or 3 pm. Which is weird as loads of the ferries left late. Our ferry was an early one at 5 pm, and there were loads of people milling around waiting for later ones. Presumably because, like us, they were told quokkas come out at dusk.

We then found the Rottnest Hotel, which had a lovely open-air section and was by far the busiest part of the island. We had 90 minutes till the ferry, so we chilled, read, and had drinks. There were random quokkas wandering about, but by then we had seen loads. Like the people we had seen at the start of the day, they were no longer novelties. They were still ludicrously cute, though.

A couple of final things you might want to know

• You don’t really need to get there at dawn or leave at dusk. Maybe the place is chock-full of quokkas, then, but we saw enough to hit our quokka quotient.
• If you get on a B Shed, there is a small mall-type place where you can buy food and coffee and go to the toilet.
• The island has shops, so you don’t need to bring much with you in terms of food and drink.
• We were there in October, which is Spring, and it was fine to walk around without getting too hot. Mrs Word of Ward and I live in Thailand, though, so our tolerance for heat is pretty high. For most of the year, I would highly recommend renting a bicycle. They even have electric bikes.
• There is a hop-on, hop-off bus if that’s your thing. You will miss randomly bumping into lone quokkas, though.
• It is highly advisable to book the ferry in advance. Our return trip was full. We used the Rottnest Express, but I think I saw a couple of other boats.

And that’s it! I hope this helps.