rafty

Lordy: we saw a link to this on a Fairfax site.

It's called Raft Up: "Perth best DJ’s, only the best bikinis (or lack of) and the best crystal blue waters of Rottnest. Raft Up 2009 will once again be a day to remember."

Free apostrophe abuse included.

Some of the pics show bright young things crammed onto boats tied together. Not our cup of Dilmah. Kind of like a human version of a sheep ship.

"Tickets will be announced shortly and includes all alcohol, lunch on the boats (as requested more salads than last year) local entertainment and the best trip to and from Rotto you’ve ever had."

Bullshit! The wild ride on heaving seas in 2006 was the best trip we've ever had to the beautiful island - and everyone was wearing their clothes!

power

Some thrilling reading today: 'Standard Form Contract For the Supply of Electricity on Rottnest Island'.

It's a white-knuckle-ride, let us tell you. Mind you, staying inside and reading documents is better than oiling the deck outside in the furnace-like heat. We can't help but compare the wilting 37 degrees or so here with the delightful 24 degrees on the beautiful island.

Sample paragraph from the contract: 'All electrical installations and equipment within the supply address premises which are fixed to the premises as chattels shall become the property of the Rottnest Island Authority in the case of termination of the Customer’s supply, and in accordance with any lease or other agreement between the Rottnest Island Authority and the Customer.'

That's how you can tell it's a contract: it uses a word like chattels.

haze days indeed

The Perth sky has been hideous this week: the smoke from the fires down south meant the sun resembled - to paraphrase Michael Herr describing the moon in Vietnam - a fat sweaty chunk of malevolent cheese.

Indeed, when Rotto Bloggo stumbled outside on Tuesday we thought the aftermath of our herring binge was worse than usual. For a moment we thought we were on Tatooine, and another fearsome sun was also over the horizon.

Can the end of days be far, as Teh Lazy Aussie on TWOP often asks? Does the rapture approach?

Of course it's been fine on the beautiful island. No disturbing solar filtering at the Basin. When it's been too much for us this week we've looked at the soothing images on a blog called True North Mark. He has wonderful pics of the Basin and other Rottnest delights. We'd like to reproduce one here, but Mark hasn't responded to our earnest plea.

Instead we've posted a NASA image which shows Rotto unbesmirched by the horrid haze.

near Rotto

We've been spending WAY too much time on NearMap, but we can't help it.

We wrote a story a couple of weeks ago on this West Perth firm that claims to give Google Earth a run for its money.

They say their aerial photos are done from a lower altitude than GE - and updated much more often.

They're pretty good: fire it up and have a look at people in their Rottnest bungalow courtyards, cycling out to the West End and cavorting at the Basin.

Alas the tea trees inhibit the action on the mini-golf course at Brett Heady's Family Fun Centre.

the Freo-Rotto bridge

The iceberg is still getting help from Rottnest so we can grapple with its huge dimensions: yesterday's West said it would make a chilly 10-storey bridge to the beautiful island.

That missing paddler was found OK: Ron Clarke left Sorrento SLC early in the AM yesterday. Then his kayak was found on Rotto. Then he was located.

Those lights in Norway turned out to be a dud Russian missile: "The new Bulava missile was fired from the submarine Dmitry Danskoi, the Russian defence ministry confirmed."

We feel the world's media missed an opportunity to use more Rottnest references: some of the vision we saw clearly showed the lights having a strong resemblance to the first section of the 10th hole on the mini-golf course at the Brett Heady Family Fun Centre.

Rottberg

Superb context for local readers: "A giant iceberg more than seven times the size of Rottnest Island is drifting towards Western Australia has been hailed as a once-in-a-lifetime rarity for both its size and the length of its journey."

This is on the Brisbane Times: at first we were unsure if people in New Farm would know the dimensions of Wa's fabulous holiday playground.

But then we slapped ourselves: Rotto is world-famous! Everyone knows about Pinky's and The Basin and the West End and Little Parakeet!

To continue: "Australian Antarctic Division glaciologist Neal Young says the iceberg, named B17B, is 1700 kilometres south-south-west of the West Australian coast and moving north with the ocean current and prevailing wind."

How big is the chilling (but slimming) chunk of ice?

"The iceberg is 19km by 8km, equating to an area of 140 square kilometres."

That's big. We doubt you can get a snot-block there, though, or pat a quokka.

We're sure you'll agree the behemoth isn't shaped very much like Rotto...perhaps as it melts it will look a bit like it...sort of how you can see images of Che and Mao being burned on your toast as it sits in the toaster.

sleeping out to get in

This marvellous Rottnest story was in the admirable POST on the weekend.

People sleep out for AC/DC tix, for VIP seats at the Olympics - and for bungalows on the beautiful island.

As well as the pic here there were also pics of snoring people at 5.15am the day the office opened and people having a cup of tea to while away the time.

Some western suburbs identities we know secured the prize of Colebatch for later this month.

WESTERN suburbs residents’ love for Rottnest was put to the test earlier this week when holiday bookings for December 2010 opened.

People anxious to secure a cottage on the island for Christmas next year started queuing outside the accommodation office at Rottnest from the middle of last week.

By Saturday afternoon, about 25 people had brought their sleeping bags and folding chairs to settle in for three days and nights camping out on the pavement.

When bookings opened at 8.30 on Tuesday morning, about 120 hopeful holidaymakers had turned the concrete plaza around the office into a colourful camping ground.

Some brought laptops and worked, or watched movies, others brought beach shelters and folding beds to make their stay as comfortable as possible.

Power points outside the office were kept busy charging mobile phones so campers could stay in touch with friends and family on the mainland, discussing preferred dates, locations and prices for a holiday a year away.

Members of the sporting O’Connell family kept up a family tradition of three generations, securing cottages for their Christmas celebrations.

Some of the queuers joined Rottnest Society volunteers on Monday morning to paint the sea wall.
But most of the time, the campers chatted, read, picnicked, went for an occasional swim and made friends with the people they will holiday with next year.

A local primary school teacher took two days of long service leave to join the queue.

“But don’t take my picture – the parents will wonder why I’m at Rottnest instead of teaching their children,” she said.

Doctors and lawyers took time off work to queue for their families; teenagers who had just finished exams were in demand to sleep out at night while their parents retired to their cottages and bungalows.

People can only queue on the island if they have accommodation on Rottnest, but “queuettiquette” (a term coined by a happy group in the queue) demands that somebody occupies each group’s chairs and beds at all times.

The accommodation rule means that the queue at Rottnest is usually shorter than the one outside the island’s accommodation office at Victoria Quay in Fremantle.

A Rottnest Island Authority said about 70 people were in a Quay queue by 8am on Tuesday.

“People just kept coming,” she said.

And there is a good chance that those prepared to brave the elements for a few days and nights will get the accommodation they want in 12 months time.

Getting through to the Rottnest Island Authority’s telephone booking service is much less reliable.

Accommodation at Rottnest is decided by a ballot system during school holidays - but in summer, the system does not swing into operation until New Year.

One of the first groups to arrive on the island said they were welcomed by the accommodation staff.

“They told us they were pleased to see us and happy that we were so passionate about Rottnest,” one woman said.

She and her friends have been queuing for December accommodation every year for several years, but they were coy about revealing just how many times they had queued or exactly when they had arrived last week.

Many “campers” said they were unhappy with the RIA’s decision to eliminate peahens so the peacocks on the island would gradually die out.

They were visited by a friendly peacock each day in the queue, which shied away timidly if anybody shouted or waved a hand at it.

The potential of sunburn during the day and stiff limbs after nights sleeping on the ground were all worth it, as shouts of joy meant the first 20 or so people in the queue had managed to book their preferred places for another summer of fun on their favourite island.

The authority spokeswoman said 664 bookings were taken at Rottnest and Victoria Quay on Tuesday.

get papping

About the only record of achievement Rotto Bloggo has is a 25m backstroke competency certificate from grade 3. Once we start reeling in the Walkley Awards the swimming gong will be in good company.

But even such an under-achiever as us is tempted to enter this photography competition - the prizes are dreamy.

'Enter your best images that can be truly called “Iconic Images”. This prestigious competition offers outstanding prizes for all amateur photographers,' says something called Iconic Images/(APS) competition, iconPHOTO09.

'Designed by Australian photographers for amateur photographers to promote the capture and presentation of iconic images.'

Amongst the expert tuition and other stuff for the winner, there's this:
Return flights from winner’s nearest Australian capital city to Perth (if applicable)
Full accommodation on the 50 ft. luxury sailing yacht ‘Calypso V’, off Rottnest Island
Transport to/from and around Rottnest Island.

Mouth-watering and enough to make us forget about the hideous overuse of the word iconic.

survey says?

Rotto Bloggo has had enough admonishing and queries to be prodded back into life - we wish we'd been partying at Pinky's with the schoolies, toolies and droolies, but alas. We were marooned on the mainland.

We encourage our leaver readers - and we know they are legion - to fill out this study about their booze and drug ingestion on the beautiful island.

'The National Drug Research Institute of Curtin University are running a study that will explore alcohol and other drug use at school leavers' celebrations ("Leavers"). The aim of this project is to make celebrations like Leavers safer for young people in the future.'

No rush: you can do it as last as mid-January.

'Overall, we believe that services and policies that concern young people are improved when informed by research such as this which draws on the knowledge of young people themselves,' the survey scientists say, and they promise SSL encryption.

Big it up for Cookster, who provided the photo (which is not of a drug-crazed teenager). The little chap is high on life and Rottnest.

rotting

We'd been wondering why the dogs were interested in the bag.

It had lain on the laundry floor for a couple of weeks after our latest Rottnest sojourn. It had done sterling work as the bait bag, so a little whiffiness was to be expected.

Eventually Mrs Rotto Bloggo (Thomson Bay Queen) suggested it might be time to give it the old gwersh-gwersh in the Whirlpool.

No worries - we even managed to hang it out to dry afterwards.

But the next day the bag had a funny weight.

Inside was a forgotten pizza base which had grown its own extensive selection of, er, natural toppings.

Astonishingly very little detergent had penetrated the plastic wrapper.

Rotto Bloggo is all for pushing those use-by date envelopes, but even we put this in the bin quick-smart.

Apologies for the three week absence: reporting commitments, Media Ball madness and a killer head cold.

crouton

A mixture of good and bad news from the beautiful island.

It's like a The Worst of Perth moving convention over there: the latest identity to grace Rottnest is notorious PR thug and blogger Cookster.

He texted us: 'Where to go> Snorkelling at Salmon Bay, or simply floating around in the cool, crystal clear waters of Little Parakeet? Is there any better smell than summer sun and salt on skin, mixed with Rottnest Island pines and the tang of crusted salt lake foam carried in the warm breeze..."

Wanker!

This from Kim, on the Gluten Free Aussie blog: "I just returned from a weekend in Rottnest, which would have been fantastic except for a bad experience..."

Check out the link for the rest. People are so litigious. There was a crouton issue.

all natural

Rotto Bloggo's new year resolution is to swim from thje natural jetty to Phillip Rock. How hard can it be? When you're standing there waiting for a garfish it looks half a hop away - a bit like the view from Cottesloe to the beautiful island.

We'd have to be watchful for Rottnest Express, the supply ship and a few other craft, but it would be a doddle. The island looks accessible once we're there.

These are shots from last week. The waves washing over the natural jetty, and nowhere to put bait, rods, caught fish etc, make the place a thrilling fishing experience. The creature featured is a Leopard Wirra.

memories

Can you believe the amount of Rottnest news? We can't. James Packer lunches at the hotel on Thursday, there's a boat missing north of the beautiful island, and Shazza spends a weekend in Thomson Bay.

It all happens there. We muts have just missed Packer: we caught the 1030 ferry back that day. We hope his meal was better to the last one we had there.

Memories of last week's four exquisite days on Rotto persist. One was of strange behaviour on the beach at Geordie. A bloke motored in from his costly yacht and cleaned and gutted fish on the sand. He was too close to the water. He was perturned by the gulls - at at one stage took up a karate stance, knife in hand, to confront the pesky birds. It went on for about half-an-hour. He seemed to throw a few cleaned and gutted fish into the water. Then he putted back to his yacht. Strange days indeed.

We trust it's not him who said in the mayday call: "I'm experiencing problems with electricals on board due to the actual taking on of water. Judging by the current flow rate into the actual vessel, I've probably got between 40 and 50 minutes before I'm going to have to abandon the vessel."

day 3 Geordie

Surrounded by sea: that is the exciting experience that is extreme fishing on Rottnest.

The fishing scenes on the beautiful island are varied. You can wet a line from a jetty, or rocks, a beach - or at Henrietta you can wade out on the reef and have the beach behind you.

But for water all around there is the natural jetty. You're so far out at low tide it seems like just a hop and a skip to Phillip Rock (but watch out for the ferries!).

The tide surges around you, the water is that deep Rotto blue, there's nowhere to put your bait and you have to be mindful of balance and footing - it is a satisfyingly extreme fishing experience.

We weren't disappointed today: herring, skipjack and a cod or two were landed.

At 1700 we also dropped in to our regular perch at the end of Geordie Bay: more herring and skippy were plucked from the water.

And we saw a snake on the just before the Geordie hill, the alarm went off at the (closed) Aristos, we had a (luke warm) coffee at Dome, the leftover roast from last night was still marvellous.

For lunch today we fired up the smoker. We spread a small amount of mallee sawdust/chips on the inside tray, laid our fillets on the rack above, lit the meths cup below - and left it alone.

After 60 seconds it was smoking like a thousand joss sticks. Eight minutes with the flame - then whip out the flame and let the fillets sit for five minutes, absorbing more smoky goodness.

It was the best smoked stuff we'd ever had: delicate, flavoursome, a hint of honey and spice. And not too fishy. You can even do vegetables in it.

We'll have smoked herring for breakfast, but tonight it's gently fried skipjack and garfish with baked potato and an apple crumble for dessert. And a few German beers.

smokin' & stirin'

The smoker was deployed at lunch: what a remarkable device it is.

A full report later of the smoker and our extreme fishing exploits at the natural jetty, but we couldn't let this worst spelling wait until then. Seen at the Geordie Bay cafe.

How sweet it is on Rottnest.

day 2 geordie

The first full day, and it's been sensational. Much fruits de la mer have been plucked from various locations around the beautiful island - some were thrown back.

We started out at Henrietta Rocks. It was satisfying to indulge in some extreme fishing (wading out in the surf on the reef) but the haul was not huge: we were casting into the teeth of a south-westerly. We're all highly sceptical of any Bureau of Meteorology forecast.

So we had a look out near the West End and settled on Mable Cove, on the other side of Rottnest. Conditions were a little better, but they were hardly jumping into the bucket.

By then it was 1430: we headed back to Thomson to eat (spinach and feta rolls for Rotto Bloggo). Bought the papers, back to the pad - until about 1700, when we were galvanised into action when we realised we'd have nothing to eat (the other three have a lamb roast on the go for tonight).

So we walked 500m to the rocks at the southern-most point of Geordie Bay, where we wet a line last night - and the difference was remarkable. The herring (and more than one skipjack) were in a frenzy and leapt onto the line. So Rotto Bloggo has ample fillets while the others chow down on their red meat.

While the lamb was in the oven Bealo knocked a few more pages of Middlemarch.

day 1 geordie

Mixed success on our first fishing foray. Your reporter caught four-fifths of fuck-all, but the other three hauled in the garfish, bait fish, herring and a magnificent squid. Those squid are full of ink. And they taste superb on pizza.

The ferry was late: we blame the Rottnest Island Authority. At least the ferry wasn't weighed down by Bealo's rods: he forgot them. Mind you we forgot the pizza trays.

Our plush Geordie Bay unit is absolute beachfront: the young worker who checked on our equipment was very efficient. She spotted we were light-on for knives and fixed us up.

It doesn't get any better than this. Some are whinging about how cold it is, but we are just thankful for the freshest air in the world.

A special thank-you to Rottnest police, who had a rod or two they could share - it meant Bealo didn't have to use the cheap and nasty handline.


Now we will make a dent in a carton of Coopers and plan our angling assault tomorrow.

offshore vibrance

We've got the good stuff: smoking sawdust for the fish smoker. It's mallee, and is "extra strong earthy flavour". We haven't seen the smoker yet: we'll collect it tonight. Hopefully it will fit the bill.

There is a fish out near Little Armstrong Bay swimming blamelessly, unaware it will be in a bucket this time tomorrow. We don't mean to sound bloodthirsty. Herring watch out.

We're keen to get to the beautiful island before the hoards descend. Rottnest has been featured in The (UK) Independent (Motto from a few years ago: 'It is. Are you?'). The Independent was Rotto Bloggo's paper of choice when we lived in London - and we're not disappointed with it today.

David Orkin goes around the usual suspects in his traveller's guide to WA. He claims Perth is "vibrant", and speaks sense about Rotto...

'Perth makes a great base for several excellent excursions. One of the most popular day trips is the short boat ride to tiny Rottnest Island (rottnestisland.com), which is just 11km long and 5km wide. A variety of boats leave for "Rotto" from Perth and Fremantle: the trip takes less than half an hour and costs from £32 return from "Freo" or £42 return from Perth with Rottnest Express (00 61 8 1300 467688; rottnestexpress.com.au).

'The island offers good swimming and diving: is virtually car free, so explore by bike – these can be rented from the island's Rottnest Bike Hire (00 61 8 9292 5105) from £5 per hour or barely twice as much for a full day.'

those stuff

Only two sleeps to go before we're on the beautiful island: 48 hours from now we may be blogging from the balcony of our plush beachfront Geordie Bay pad.

We can reveal that we're taking a herring smoker. Or we will be if all goes according to plan. It has to be collected from the father-in-law, for a start. And also it's alleged we need some woodchips.

Some readers of this blog will be aware of the cultural significance of smoking herring to Rotto Bloggo. We are excited it may be happening.

The good news about Rottnest continues to be communicated. This New Jersey travel writer has her facts straight: "The highlight of the visit was an excursion by local ferry to Rottnest Island (aka Rotto) where we rented bikes and rode around the approximately 7 by 3 mile island. Another transportation option, since visitors aren't allowed to bring cars over, is to take the bus that circumnavigates the island, stopping at any or all of the beaches."

Mary Altier (is she Californian, actually?) can't spell Fremantle, but never mind. It's pleasing that Rotto ranks with the Harbour Bridge, fending off crocs in the NT, yadda yadda.

And Mei Teng also liked her sojourn on the beautiful island - but had at least one concern: "Quokkas are herbivours and they rely on plant life as a source of water. As we were admiring and photographing those creatures, I noticed lots of dark brown droppings all over the grassy area. I was careful not to step onto any droppings as I made my way out of their shelter. Later, we were told not to come into contact with the droppings as those stuff have been known to cause illness."

the play's the thing

An associate has kindly reminded us about Waiting for Rotto, a Blue Room production that's now on.

We blogged about this island drama a while ago, and will endeavour to see it even though it's clashing with our next island sojourn: this time next week we'll be there.

Will the play mention the Angry Whopper?

You might think WfR is the first play to mention the beautiful island. You'd be labouring under a misapprehension: here are some of the plays that have...

Journey's End by R.C. Sherriff: a glimpse into the experiences of an obese American family as they cycle to the West End. Do they get there before evening, or will the seagulls peck them to death?

Setonix by Peter Shaeffer: a lonely Red Rooster check out chick embarks on a sexual odyssey as she investigates why a toolie blinded six quokkas with a West Coast Eagles stubby holder.

The Persian Rugs by Aeschylus: this laugh-a-minute comedy by the ancient Greek master features a bizarre attempt by Tony Sadler of Wembley to furnish all the island accomodation with colourful throws and kilims.

Cloud Nine by Caryl Churchill: the nuances and paralells between colonial and sexual oppression are explored in this innovative drama, which starts in a 1906 drunken orgy in the Governor of WA's party and finishes with a private schoolboy sodomised by peacocks wearing ranger regalia.

To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf (adapted for stage by Harold Bishop): the Ramsay family and their visits to Rotto in between being the slum landlords of the popular TV soap Neighbours is a skilful manipulation of temporality and psychological exploration and tragedy of the highest order.

shame about the name

Shame about the name? So says a commenter on a blog that went to Rotto recently.

pantone801 spent a recent day on the beautiful island. Their YouTube is amusing, despite the cheesy background music.

"Rottnest is stunning, one of the most gorgeous places I have visited", they say.

We also liked this Flickr spread: Landscape Urban. From graffiti to lighthouses to signs that have fallen down, Rotto has it all.

whale of a time

Apologies for the absence. We were down south (and admiring the Rottnest-like clarity of the water at Prevelly) and then it was back into the vortex of the working week.

Things about the beautiful island kept happening in our absence. Troublemaking The Worst of Perth blogger The Lazy Aussie had an all-too-brief stay: these pics are his.

Our island-loving associate Fremantlebiz snagged a stay yesterday when one of his associates snuck down to the wharf. The first of the month is an opportunity for Rottnest lovers.

The RIA is plugging away on Facebook: Hey guys, check out the latest page on our website. Every Wednesday we will be updating it so you can see what days in the following two months still have accommodation remaining. Especially handy in the summer period! The days are ranked as having either 'ample', 'adequate' or 'some' accommodation. It makes it easy then to just call Central Reservations, tell them the day you want and see what we have available!

And then this, a few minutes later: Sorry guys, the below message should have read 'ample', 'adequate' or 'none'!


It's a mere 11 days until Rotto Bloggo is there. Four nights of bliss.

leaver$

Ouch: 'Rotto costs double for leavers' is the grim headline in today's West.

'Accommodation fees on Rottnest Island during this year's school leavers' week will almost double in an attempt to recover soaring costs associated with the annual celebration,' is the lead.

That's the rule in reporting: costs never creep up, or increase - they soar, or they've been hiked.

Ljiljanna Ravlich hit the commercial airwaves this morning: she said when she left Govo SHS in 1975 she hit the beautiful island with her friends, and even allowing for inflation it didn't cost as much as it does today.

'Leavers renting a four-bed premium unit at Bathurst for the three nights set aside for leavers' week will pay $1422 this year, of which $1022 is for accommodation. The same unit cost $564 last year,' the West says.

Does it cost that much to clean up after the kids?

sugar hit

Is it possible to cram a vanilla slice into your mouth all at once? Some people give it a red-hot go when they're on the beautiful island - Gemma Boyd's friend Alisha, for example.

Gemma and Alisha got up at 6am to get the ferry two hours later. After riding around Rottnest they dropped in at the bakery and Alisha battled the snot-block: see the pics on Gemma's RTW Trip blog here.

After her sugar inhalation Alisha was so pooped she had a kip on the boat back to the mainland.

We're amazed to see the Urban Dictionary lists snot-block: it's here, between snot blaster and snot bong (which is not what you might think).

Our pic is of an American consuming a snot block. At least she's not throwing up and being dive-bombed by rapacious seagulls.

arrrr

It's Talk Like A Pirate Day. Me hearties! While few buccaneers or corsairs have made people walk the plank in Thomson Bay, Rottnest hasn't been without pirate encounters. After all, the beautiful island is antipodal to Bermuda.

The best one was made up last year (and covered on Rotto Bloggo here): a fishing boat called Pirate supposedly caught a huge great white.

Then of course there was this ad for the Lodge earlier this year, which featured buried treasure under the (kinda small) island's lone palm. Arrrr.

And let's not forget the Purple Pirates. One of this motley crew, Bosun Grog, "...s known to have ventured on the wild ocean many times and can often be seen singing at the baarrgh on Rottnest Island while collecting bottle tops for his Laarrgherphone. 'Ee 'as a vast repertoire of sea songs tattooed on the inside of his eyelids which helps him to strum his guitaarrgh and sing with his eyes closed - enabling him to plunder the hearts and wallets of defenseless audiences."

Shiver me timbers.

"Rotto favours private schools"

This story published today is white-hot. It's in the POST, and we can't understand why a ball-tearer like this isn't on the front, above the fold.

'The Rottnest ballot is random and computer-generated, but students at Shenton College are asking why their school keeps missing out on Leavers' Week accommodation.'

Oh yes. A bright Shenton College teenager is wondering why Scotch has at least 25 houses, PLC has 24 and Hale 27 - when the guvvy kids at SC have a mere three.

Hmmmm.

The Rottnest Island Authority wheeled out the big bureaucrat to speak on this one: Laurie O'Meara said any suggestion that RIA staff or any other person can influence the ballot is false.

"There is no, and there never has been, a ballot council of parent representatives in existence or any other external interference in the ballot process," Lazza said.

Will this be known as the Bulgarian effect?

Americans abroad

How did Americans end up ruling the world? We asked ourselves this question after reading an account of some New Yorkers in Perth - and on Rottnest.

The hapless family's adventures are headlined 'The Worst Vacation Ever', which made Rotto Bloggo's bristles hackle.

After a quick read we were mollified: it was Worst due to the family's ineptness, weak stomachs and general pratfalls.

"We headed home to get ready for an evening boat cruise to Rottnest Island, have dinner, and return later that night. This is when the next round of trouble began...."

They liked the quokka, but interaction with other fauna wasn't so cheery.

"As my wife was chatting and enjoying a chip (French fry), she slowly went to put it in her mouth when I heard her scream and duck as if she had been hit. Well, she had! A seagull had come flying out of nowhere, knocked her head with its wing, and stole the chip right out of her hand as she was attempting to put it in her mouth!"

After more bird battles the family heads back to the mainland...

"About 10 minutes into the boat trip Sydney started to look a little green. Next thing you know there is an awful retching sound as she tossed her cookies…thankfully in a proper bag. Now the smell combined with the choppy waters brought on the gags for all of us. My wife was losing it, I was sweating so badly some had thought the boat had sprung a leak under my feet..."

Oh dear. We hope the sailors aboard those nuclear-powered aircraft carriers handle Gage Roads better than this mob. The rest of The Worst Vacation Ever involves sorry incidents with more seagulls, more vomit, hospitals and fast food.

Do you reckon these guys were fat?

hooked

Cute Rotto animal picture alert: here's a close-up of one of the island pelicans.

This is also from Geoff V, who sent in the pic of the cavorting kiddies in Thomson with Mr Percival close by.

There's speculation the scarring on this guy's proboscis is from a fish hook.

In other island news, Rotto Bloggo has a competitor! At long last someone else has taken up the Rottnest blogging challenge. Chuck's blog is here - he also has blogs called Perth Tomorrow and Bassendean Tomorrow.

Chuck's latest Rotto post calls for more accommodation on the beautiful island.

Only 27 days until Rotto Bloggo's latest Geordie Bay sojourn...the countdown has begun.

scrambled eggs

One of our favourite Rotto breakfasts: scrambled eggs with feta and topped with a chive or two. There aren't many better meals to have on the balcony of our plush Geordie Bay beachfront balcony. "Now this is living," we congratulate ourselves as we tuck in.

The POST has a story today about scrambled Rottnest eggs of a different kind...

RANGERS on Rottnest Island have been shaking seagull eggs in an effort to control their numbers.

The rangers go to gull nests, shake eggs so the embryos are destroyed, and then replace them.

Because the eggs aren't broken the gulls don't replace them by laying new eggs.

A Rottnest Island Authority spokesperson said there'd been a university research project aimed at manipulating gull nest sizes which used egg shaking.

"The project was supported by the authority and was done under full naimal ethic approval," the spokesperson said.
"However, this was a study and not a routine option for pest bird control."

The authority's pest management plan sees gulls caught with nets and then gassed.

The spokesperson said more seagulls were in Rottnest settlement areas because there was no longer a landfill on the island.

The spokesperson said if gull numbers increased, egg shaking might become another pest management method.

In other Rottnest fauna news, a number of peacocks have been removed from the island: Peel Zoo took 23 of the birds.

sinking

It's ferry tough on the choppy seas of the business world, trying to sail into the gale forces of the GFC (Global Financial Crisis).

There was a very good Beatrice Thomas story in The West last week once word got out about Oceanic Cruises' receivership. We filed a little story for the western suburbs paper The POST, but it must have been overtaken by events come Friday.

Today's pic is of the Shuttleworths and one of their boats in happier times: it was taken about two years ago, when Rotto Bloggo was one of the few elite reporters invited to the beautiful island for a Sheila McHale presser.

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Rottnest ferry company Oceanic Cruises is in receivership with its assets up for grabs.

Receivers KordaMentha said Oceanic went into voluntary receivership on Sunday, 22 August.

Two days later the secured creditor, Esanda Finance, appointed KordaMentha.

“We're in control of all the company's businesses and assets, except the underwater explorer vessel,” KordaMentha's Cliffe Rocke said.

“We're in the process of commissioning an advertising campaign for the sale of the businesses and assets.”

The company is owned by Cottesloe couple Tim and Tammy Shuttleworth.

They bought the company in September 2007.

Ms Shuttleworth didn't return calls from the POST by press time.

Oceanic and competitor Rottnest Express were cost-saving during the slow winter period.

“We are carrying Oceanic's passengers because it's hard to make money in WA in winter,” a Rottnest Express spokeswoman said.

“It's by agreement and no different to any other year.”

The spokeswoman said when both companies were running ferries that were only 15-18% full, combining services was a “sensible business decision”.

guy II

Famous artist pays for Rottnest accomodation with art!

A dream headline about the beautiful island. Since our recent post about Guy Grey-Smith, we've been in touch with the late artist's family about his Rotto work.

"The story about Rotto I can share is that Dad won a prize of accommodation at the Rottnest Lodge, so we all went over, only to discover it was for one person only," a relative revealed to Rotto Bloggo.

"Dad persuaded Lesley Anderson, who was running the Lodge with her husband, that he should paint Lesley's portrait in payment. So he did a pretty modernist portrait which I am not sure she particularly liked! It is knocking around somewhere I think."

We have made it our mission to bring this portrait to you. In the meantime we are wondering: how many pictures of the beautiful island did Grey-Smith paint?

Snell has two: we featured the one on the cover in our first Guy post, and the accompanying image is the other.

A WA Museum operative says they have one in storage: is it this one?

"I don't know of any other paintings of Rotto that he did other than those two you know of," Guy's relative says.

Snell hints at a major work done in his Darlington studio, in addition to the "several painted studies" done on the island.

And here's Snell on that competition: "...the inaugural Rottnest Island Art Award, established by Leslie and Bill Anderson after they took over the Rottnest Lodge in 1953. The prize of a fortnight's holiday for the winners of the three sections lured many artists over to complete their entries. However the choices of the judge Charles Hamilton, especially the selection of Guy Grey-Smith's oil painting, was so unpopular with the sponsoring businessmen of the island that it was also the last award of its kind."

the five stages

There was a bit of Rotto rage last week as usually well-balanced people tried to lock accommodation in on September 1.

This tanty is from Shazza:

“I once loved the beautiful island passionately as you do. Both my husband and myself, having great childhood memories of Rotto, were hoping to share the love when our kiddies came along.

“Now, however, I find myself moving through Kubler-Ross' five stages of grief as I come to terms with the seemingly irrefutable reality that it is (almost) friggin’ impossible to find anywhere to stay, outside of tentland, on Rottnest.

“Denial: at first I considered the possibility that the accommodation checker on the RIA web page was faulty, thinking it couldn't possibly be true that I could not get a villa or unit in September or October for more than one night.

“Anger: waiting a few days and checking again. The same results. There is no room at the effin’ inn! I am even wiling to spend the exhorbitant prices charged by the Lodge at this stage.

“Bargaining: perhaps if I just call the RIA and ask instead of relying on the web page to find somewhere? Try that, get told they use the same checker, and can transfer me to bookings to discuss. On hold to bookings for 20 minutes then hang up. Outrage.

“Depression: the thought of having to enter the ballot again leads to a seething resentment which then leads to a depressing despair. Will we have to buy a boat and compete for moorings to be ever able to see my beloved Rotto again?

“Acceptance: never!”

We empathise, Shazza. The sight of a wild-eyes western suburbs woman clutching her phone and trying not to hyperventilate (hi Julie!) is distressing. But Shazza found that persistence paid:

“With perseverence I have managed to book something after all. Hey: no mention of the comedy festival they just held on the island?”

For some pics, Shazza, go here to Laura Is Hot (I kid you not).

fishing for compliments

Geoff V ventured south from the Kimberley to the beautiful island last week and experienced a dramatic drop in temperature.

Here's his delightful pic of the (rugged up) kids hanging out with Mr Percival at Thomson Bay while they fish. We love Mr P's wind-blown feathers.

What is the kids' secret? Even if we have fresh fish in hand, the pelicans don't want to know us. Perhaps they know we're a gerbalist.

It's perky on the mainland today, but we note the lowest temp on Rottnest today has been a superbly mild 11.8 degrees at 0530.

stuffed skinks

We really, really hope two shingleback skinks are back on the beautiful island and sunning themselves in a prime position on Geordie Bay.

This Perth Now yarn is about a Japanese tourist intercepted at Perth airport: he allegedly had 14 animals - including the Rottnest rodents - stuffed into his bag.

The 34-year-old Jap allegedly hid the beasties "in socks and small pet carriers".

If the terrible tourist is found guilty of this heinous crime, Rotto Bloggo volunteers to stuff him into a small pre-worn sock.

"The Rottnest Island shingleback is specially protected as a threatened (vulnerable) species in WA and is only found on Rottnest Island. Under the state’s Wildlife Conservation Act the maximum penalty for taking specially protected fauna is $10,000," Perth Now reports.

"The man has been refused bail and is due to appear in Perth Magistrates Court today."