boat floats, biz riz

We were the third person on board the Rottnest Spirit for its first trip on Tuesday.
We were going to Rotto to report on the refurbished bungalows in Nappy Alley: also present were other media heavyweights (Channels 9 and 10, Carolyn Monaghan from ABC 720, and Brendan Foster from the Fremantle Herald).

We’d reported on the Spirit before, but we were chastised this week for not including the number of passengers it can carry. The number is 200.

It was a nice ride to the beautiful island. The Spirit has a double hull. It seemed very smooth. There was OJ, sparkling wine, muffins and scrolls for breakfast. Can’t led the media go hungry.

Tourism Minister Sheila McHale says the new boat, which cost Oceanic $12 million, is a sign Rotto business confidence is soaring. Soaring higher than a freewheeling gull above the tearooms. Higher even than the top of the Wadjemup lighthouse.

“This major investment is a real indication of the level of private sector confidence in Rottnest and in tourism in Western Australia,” Ms McHale said in her media release. “We are entering a new era as business engages with the island and Rottnest’s popularity soars.”

Hmm. Business has been engaging with the island for a long long time, from making salt to charging the earth for bread. Popularity? It’s pretty popular now.

Ms McHale said an estimated $60million was due to be invested in Rottnest Island by the private sector: “$6.5million will be spent on the Quokka Arms hotel, a new Dome cafe is being built and negotiations are continuing towards a new $50million hotel…business confidence in Rottnest has never been so high and it augurs very well for the future…the Carpenter Government is boosting our State’s tourism industry to create new jobs and opportunities for people and preserve our unique lifestyle.”

Hmm. Is giving the go-ahead to a huge new hotel preserving Rotto’s lifestyle?

McHale's navy

It was McHale’s army on Rotto today, too, as dozens of people invaded a Nappy Alley unit.

Tourism Minister Sheila McHale cut a ribbon across the front door of Gull, or unit number 211, in South Thomson.

The thronging crowd seemed like gulls as they huddled and devoured morning tea after the event.

“Ms McHale also unveiled 43 refurbished units in South Thomson, meaning 85 per cent of the island’s 308 holiday units have now been upgraded or refurbished,” said her media release.

“We’ve also reached another milestone – all asbestos cement roofing has now been removed and replaced with colorbond,” Ms McHale said in her release.“It also keeps us on track for the refurbishment program as set out in the Rottnest Island taskforce report to be finished in 2008.”

The media were keen to know if schoolies would be staying in these now-pristine places. No they will not, the Minister said: Nappy Alley is families only.


The refurbished unit looked very nice. It was certainly a lot cleaner than the one we checked into earlier this year. The Minister had a poke around the fridge, people inspected the shower and bedrooms, and marvelled at the view from Gull’s front porch.

The crowd zipped across to Rotto on the Rottnest Spirit: more detail about that tomorrow.

off the soap box

We were at the Freo Markets the other day and we saw this Rottnest soap.

Mariners' Soap on a Rope lathers in salt and fresh water. "Great for boats, holiday home and Rotto", says the manufacturer. "Made with coconut oil...good for waterways."

Looks good to us. There's no fragrance. The rope is hemp. Why wouldn't you pack one of these when you're next going to the beautiful island?

Rotto Bloggo had it's HOME supplement (The Sunday Times) hat on when we were at the store. The owner told us a version of this tale, in the Wikipedia entry on soap: "...soap takes its name from a supposed "Mount Sapo" where ancient Romans sacrificed animals. Rain would send a mix of animal tallow and wood ash down the mountain and into the clay soil on the banks of the Tiber. Eventually, women noticed that it was easier to clean clothes with this "soap".

"The location of Mount Sapo is unknown, as is the source of the "ancient Roman legend" to which this tale is typically credited. In fact, the Latin word sapo simply means "soap"; it was borrowed from a Celtic or Germanic language, and is cognate with Latin sebum, "tallow", which appears in Pliny the Elder's account. Roman animal sacrifices usually burned only the bones and inedible entrails of the sacrificed animals; edible meat and fat from the sacrifices were taken by the humans rather than the gods. Animal sacrifices in the ancient world would not have included enough fat to make much soap. The legend about Mount Sapo is probably apocryphal.

one death every eight weeks

Visitors to the Aboriginal cemetery on Rottnest are all too few. Rotto Bloggo has touched on the beautiful island's sorry indigenous history before (eg 'Tie them up like dogs'), but it's worth mentioning regularly.

So it was good to read this excellent Phil Haberland column on Perth Extra on Sunday: "If sadness was something you could physically touch, you would feel it here", Phil notes about the cemetery.

"Between 1838 and 1903, Rottnest was a prison for Aborigines. More than 3000 were transported from all over WA to the island to serve sentences for breaking British laws, of which they had no knowledge or understanding (such as six months for stealing a pipe or two years for killing a sheep).
"With chains around their necks and legs, they endured barbaric treatment and conditions. This is not "bleeding heart" history – just a statement of fact that can be found at the Rottnest Museum.

"There are more than 360 unmarked graves in the Aboriginal Prisoner Cemetery. That means that over 60 years, Aboriginal prisoners must have buried one of their number every eight weeks."

Phil talks about the cemetery and also thinks about Kate Grenville's The Secret River, and invites visitors to have a look at the place.

"...if you are at Rotto's pie shop or holidaying there, take the kids for a stroll, explain what happened, and for what it's worth, maybe say a prayer.For me, the word "sorry" still comes to mind."

chicken like Miss Maud's coffee

An update on the fast food situation on the beautiful island...you'll remember our "Less work for Mother"?? post last month, about tenders closing for a new fast food outlet in the mall.

The tender relates to the site occupied by Red Rooster, whose lease is coming to an end. What's the latest?

"Evaluation of the responses is being carried out at the moment. Until the process is complete, the details you have asked for will not be released," Rottnest Island Authority bugle Penni Fletcher-Hughes tells Rotto Bloggo.

"I will let you know when the winning tender is announced."

OK. We look forward to the details. If a new fast food outlet goes in, the RIA will have to change this on their site: 'Red Rooster offers a delicious range of roast chicken meals, rolls and wraps, snacks and a selection of salads. They use fresh A-grade chicken, marinated for over 12 hours, and because their famous chicken is roasted, not fried, fat ends up in the cooking tray and not on your waist. To end a perfect day at Rottnest, it's gotta be red.'

*Food pictured is about halfway between slow and fast.

do you like to clean?

Looking for another job? What about cleaning on Rottnest? Recent newspaper classified ads could be just the ticket for you.

“Housekeepers reqd for servicing units. Ferry leaves Fremantle @ 7:30am. Start time 8am. Call ISS on 9445 4410 or Txt “ROTT” to 0438 965 401”, instructs one.

The other is too long for Rotto Bloggo to retype, but there are Onsite Cleaning Supervisor positions where you live on the island and must be available all hours. They also need a Cleaning Admin Clerk: must “have customer service skills, hospitality exp pref.” Send your resume to lbeard@tempo.com.au or fax 9445 4422.

What’s the cleaning like on Rottnest? One prominent western suburbs identity wasn’t impressed with it three years ago: in a newsletter Colin Barnett had this to say about the place...

“A sewage system dating back to 1935, non-compliant gas reticulation, buildings in need of re-wiring, non-operational water tanks and substandard accommodation and cleaning.”

As they say in Leon - aka The Cleaner - if you want a job done well, hire a professional.

a mean cloud

Another great Flickr image of Rotto.

This is by Flickr user geoffrey.fisher: Rottnest Jetty to Perth was taken on September 8, 2005.

He has five Rotto images: we also like this one, Big Light from Rottnest.

It’s not well-known the Big Light (aka the Wadjemup lighthouse) was a climate statistic-gathering location from 1879 to 1995.

The mean minimum temperature on the island was 11.5 degrees, during August. The least amount of rainfall was in January. The mean number of cloudy days during September was 12.1.

In case you were wondering, the lighthouse is at 32.01 degrees south, 115.50 degrees east.

"Less work for Mother"??

A new fast food outlet is on the cards for Rotto.

Tenders for the operation closed last month: see ‘Lease to Develop and Operate a Take Away Food Outlet in the Central Thomson Mall’.

The Rottnest Island Authority is being a bit tardy in providing your humble blogger with more information: we emailed an Authority operative on Wednesday with some questions, but there’s been no response so far.

How many companies submitted a tender? Who were they? Where will the food outlet be in the mall (eg next to the general store)? When will the winning tender be announced?

It’s a mystery so far. While another Red Rooter* or Scungy’s** isn’t to everyone’s taste, you’d think a fast food place on the beautiful island wouldn’t have the, er, issues they do elsewhere.

For example: fast food places seem to attract an awful lot of crime. Here’s a random instance, plucked from the electronic headlines: Axe-wielding man arrested over fast food smash-up.

This is by Chris Mcgoey, who is supposedly a fast food security expert:

‘Fast Food or quick service restaurants are unique commercial properties. They operate late at night or 24-hours a day staffed by crews of young adults or juveniles. They are largely cash-based businesses with a high amount of workplace violence against employees. By design, they are conveniently located on major thoroughfares for quick service. The nature of this business style makes it very convenient for customers. Unfortunately, this style of operation also makes it an attractive target for aggressive or intoxicated persons, robbers, and other criminals.’

Indeed. Another issue with fast food places is litter. Do we really need more fast food on Rotto? Isn’t the beautiful island more in tune with a leisurely meal on the barbie, or a feast prepared slowly in the kitchen?

*and**:for our overseas visitors: Red Rooster, Hungry Jack's

that's the Spirit

Oceanic Cruises’ new 25m-long catamaran is the first new commercial vessel to service Rottnest in 10 years, according to WA Business news.

The Rottnest Spirit was built by Sabre Cat Marine in Henderson.

Nothing more about the boat on OC’s website, but WABN also reported the company has new owners: Tim and Tammy Shuttleworth.

“We want the Rottnest experience to start when people get on board the ferry,” Mr Shuttleworth gushed to WABN, no doubt thinking of the “full bar, quality sound systems, granite benchtops and LCD screens” on board the Spirit.

Tim told the paper he means to refurbish his six vessels.

Rotto Bloggo likes the sound of OC’s new services: an 0700 from Freo and a 2000 departure from Rotto.

WABN noted Scott Bailey (Bailey’s Marine Fuels) bought Rottnest Express/Boat Torque from Peter Purves recently.

Basin landmark

Rotto Bloggo discovered this week that the beautiful island played a role in a significant precedent-setting legal decision.

This is a bit from Law of the Surf, from a 2003 edition of the Australian Law Journal:

“A significant case especially in relation to surf related liability is that of Nagle v Rottnest Island Authority where the High Court held that the Rottnest Island Authority was liable for injury sustained by Nagle who had been injured in a diving accident and suffered severe spinal injury becoming a quadriplegic.

“Nagle had dived into an area of Rottnest Island known as the Basin and in diving into the water had hit a partially-submerged rock-ledge. The Basin was described as small sand-bottom u-shaped bathing area on the northern coast of the island surrounded on all sides except the north by a flat-rock area known as a wave-platform, approximately 25cm above low-tide level.

“In this instance, it was held that the Rottnest Island Authority should have erected a sign to warn of the dangers. The High Court explained that it was clear that the rocks existed and that the Authority knew of this hidden danger, therefore, a warning sign should have been erected, especially in a context where the Authority encouraged people to use the Basin as a swimming facility.

The Supreme Court’s Chief Justice Kirby has been one of many referring to this case: “…this was the case in which the cost of a sign…was virtually zero and was contrasted with the consequence of the admittedly foolhardy conduct of diving into water from a rock ledge.”

Another reference: “His Honour referred to Nagle v Rottnest Island Authority (1993) 177 CLR 423 (seeE&E Insurance Review, vol. V, no. 1, p. 60; vol. VI, no. 1, p. 42; vol. VIII, no. 1, p. 44) for the principle that a notice may transform a plaintiff’s knowledge of the existence of a danger into a more lively appreciation of the danger.”

Rottnest risk

More Rotto celluloid.

A Fish Tale “expos(es) an issue that needs to be heard by the local West Australian community”, according to its makers.

“The documentary, about exploitation of Rottnest Island’s natural resources, is swimming around the globe without a hint of tiring,” says Black Pearl Pictures (Black Pearl, of course, is also the name of Johnny Depp’s ship in those pirate movies).

The flick won best film at the Margaret River Film Festival and the Hawaii Ocean Film Festival’s Best Short award.

“It explores the delicate nature of the Rottnest marine environment and the risk it is being put under by oil exploration”, according to the Western Suburbs Weekly.

BPP advise you to keep an eye peeled for A Fish Tale at a film festival near you.

great expectations?

Continuing our look at the Synovate research done for the Rottnest Island Authority…

Nearly a third of people stayed in villas; 19 per cent were in units; Kingstown was eight per cent; tents seven per cent.

Ten per cent of people were either dissatisfied or very dissatisfied with the accommodation, with another 20 per cent neutral: neither satisfied or dissatisfied.

The greatest unhappiness is with the linen and bedding: 26 per cent either dissatisfied or very dissatisfied, and 27 per cent neutral. Only 47 per cent were satisfied or very satisfied.

Furniture and fittings weren’t far behind in the unhappiness stakes. 22 per cent either dissatisfied or very dissatisfied, and 25 per cent neutral.

The ratings for standard of accommodation, cleanliness, cutlery and crockery, maintenance services and luggage delivery were better.

Overall, there were high levels of satisfaction with accommodation: bungalows fared the best, while cottages fared the worst. Tents and villas were the only types that had some very dissatisfied people.

People liked the guided tours, although 80 per cent of visitors said they didn’t go on the two-hour coach tour, or see the Oliver Hill guns and tunnels, or go on quokka walks or Aboriginal history tour or visit the lighthouse.

Expectations: 10 per cent of visitors said their expectations weren’t met – up from six per cent in 2004/05.

A fifth said their expectations were exceeded, and 69 per cent said their expectations were met.
The vast majority of people said they would return to Rotto and would recommend it to others.

A future post will look at the results for ‘Boaters Visiting Rottnest Island’.

waves reveal happy campers

You’ll recall in our post are you Experienced? we said thanks to Freedom of Information laws we’d got some Synovate research done for the Rottnest Island Authority.

“This report details the findings for the 2005/06 Rottnest island Visitor Survey (based on all data collected in waves 1, 2 and 3.”
(Wave 1 saw 140 people interviewed from mid-June to mid-October 2005, wave 2 was for 271 people quizzed from mid-October 2005 to mid-February 2006, and wave 3 saw 275 people interrogated between mid-February and mid-June 2006).

More than one in four come from the “North Metro” area. We guess this means the western suburbs.
Nearly 60 per cent of people have a gross household income over $80,000.
Nearly half had visited Rotto more than 10 times.

How did they get there? Dunno: a large chunk of page 29 was blacked out: the RIA said it would need to get third-party approval to release ferry information.

About a fifth of visitors had heard about accommodation rate increases/rises/upgrades – nearly half said they would go to Rotto anyway.
A third hadn’t heard anything about Rottnest – nothing at all!

Satisfaction: boaties are the least-satisfied. Visitors from Perth are the least-satisfied of the visitors.
Value for money: 81 per cent think Rotto is ‘good’ or ‘very good’. Seven per cent said it was ‘poor’.
“Reasons for poor rating of value for money of Rottnest Island”: 37 per cent said the ferry cost too much; 32 per cent said the food and accommodation was too expensive.

A quarter said the accommodation was poor value.
Five per cent were either dissatisfied or very dissatisfied with the facilities and services on Rotto.

What did people think about Red Rooster, Dome, the store and the bakery?
Dunno: the RIA removed the seven-page section ‘Businesses on Rottnest Island’, because of the third-party thing.

Tomorrow’s post: what people think about the villas, cabins et al!

it's a fantasy island

Lots of Rottnest news while we’ve been away. Did you see the ad in today’s West: if you get the job of managing the Rottnest Island Authority (position # EP007 Marine & Terrestrial Reserve) you get from $82,228 to $88,131 a year. The location of your employment is: “Rottnest Island (Commuting)”.

A story on egoli says Westralian Gas and Power has done a $37 million offshore exploration deal with Roc Oil Limited, which can now explore and drill two wells in two offshore petroleum permits.

“WAGP said the deal was with 25 per cent joint venture partners Lempika Pty Limited and Emphazise Pty Limited, and comprises 4530 sq km, in the Vlaming Sub-basin ranging from Rottnest Island to Mandurah.,” egoli says.

Another island list popped up, this time in the Sydney Morning Herald. ‘Fantasy islands’ had Qld’s Poruma Island at the top, then the Tiwi Islands – then Rotto. Some mistake surely? At least we were ahead of Kangaroo Island, French Island, and some place called Haggerstone Island. The plane! The plane!

And this from the West: “More than 40ha of prime Rottnest Island land previously protected from development will be rezoned, prompting accusations that the State Government is orchestrating a land grab for further development…Tourism Minister Sheila McHale rejected the claims as ludicrous, saying any future government would be “utterly crucified” if it tried to build on the expanded settlement zone.”

The Rottnest Society doesn’t like the sound of the rezoning: the West reported Sue Foukes as saying the Rotto task force report hadn’t recommended the zone be increased.

Somerville's book

Another gem has been added to the collection: the 1966 (third) edition of W. Somerville’s Rottnest Island in History and Legend (Its Discovery and Development, Natural Beauties, Fauna and Flora) arrived in the post this week.

Rotto Bloggo snapped it up on eBay for ten bucks: a snip compared to some of the Bookfinder listings (from $19.35 to $83.75, with most being the Rottnest Island Board reprint of 1976…the cheapest 1966 edition they had was $28.63).

Somerville was interesting. His name remains on the island: the cop shop’s address is 1 Somerville Drive. The UWA site says he was a Senate founder and wrote a history of the first 30 years of the uni that was never published. Fred Alexander (another big WA name) said some of Somerville’s comments in his history are “sensitive”.

The Australian Dictionary of Biography says Somerville was born in NSW and hit Freo in 1895:

“On the morning that he landed, he hunted up the union secretary at his breakfast and by starting time had found a job as engine-smith on C. Y. O'Connor's harbour works. He became a leader of the local labour movement, was active in the 1899 lumpers' strike, and represented the A.S.E. on the new Coastal Trades and Labor Council (president 1901). On 30 March 1899 in Wesley Church, Fremantle, Somerville married Agnes Spunner, schoolteacher; they lived in Mosman Park, a bushland suburb, and Agnes shared her husband's political activity. They had a daughter and three sons.”

Somerville was also involved on the King's Park and Rottnest Island boards: while on the latter he “instigated an ambitious afforestation scheme”.

A cataract meant Somerville retired in 1941. After an operation he wrote his Rottnest masterpiece and other works.

Rottowiki

With all the fuss being created by Wikiscanner last week, Rotto Bloggo thought we’d have a look at the history of the Rottnest Island article on Wikipedia.

The first entry was done on Anzac Day 2003. All up there’s been 195 edits.

This was in the first entry, but isn’t in the current one:

'Each year, around November, the island is inundated with school leavers and university students, who celebrate their graduation with extended bouts of binge drinking at the bar in Thompson's Bay (called the "Quokka Arms") and at rented cabins and units. In [[1986]], outrageous student behaviour resulted in multiple arrests and expulsions from the island, and made national news.'

On 16 August 2005 there was a POV problem, and some superlatives had to go:

'The Rottnest Lodge is a high quality hotel located in the centre of the settlement at Thomson Bay, and the ever popular and recently refurbished Quokka Arms now offers a fabulous beer garden, quality restaurant and superb ocean views.'

There doesn’t seem to have been vandalism on the level of those naughty public servants (you’ll remember they inserted ‘poo bum dicky wee wee’ on an entry about martial arts), but Wikipedia doesn’t like commercial links. On 16 July last year someone slipped in the URL http://www.rottnest.de/, but it was removed a minute later.

more Rottnest art

Someone who's been told he paints like Monet, someone who types like Monet.

Jason Beer is the latest artist to put a Rotto image on eBay: his ORIGINAL OIL PAINTING ONSTRETCHED CANVAS FRE DELIVERY, which shows people on the beach, starts at $95 (or you can Buy It Now for $200).

"I HAVE WON AWARDS FOR MY PAINTINGS AND OFTEN HAVE MY PAINTINGS COMPARED TO THAT OF MONET," Jason says on his listing.

"AT MY LAST SOLO EXHIBITION I WAS TOLD BY A ARTIST,MONET IS MY IDOL YOU PAINT JUST LIKE HIM. WHILE THATS NICE TO HERE I SAY HE JUST HAPPENED TO PAINT THE WAY I DO."

The next eBay listing has Rotto Bloggo stumped, though. Item number 260151802995 is an ORIGINAL WATERCOLOUR BY ROBERT RICHMOND CAMPBELL (VERY POPULAR AUSTRALIAN ARTIST,"AUSTRALIAN LANDSCAPE".

Sounds good. But the seller, Bob Wright, is not the most articulate spruiker.

"THIS IS THE OPPORTUNITY TO PICK UP AN ORIGINAL WATERCOLOUR BY ONE OF AUSTRALIA'S MOST POPULAR IMPRESSIONIST ARTISTS, ROBERT RICHMOND CAMPBELL,THE WATERCOLOUR WHICH IS IN GOOD CONDITION AND SIGNED AT THE BOTTOM LEFT ALSO COMES WITH A SOFT COVER BOOK ON THE ARTIST WHICH WAS RELEASED IN 1986 BY THE QUEEN VICTORIA MUSEUM AND ART GALLERY IN TASMANIA," says Bob, in bright blue.

After some details about Campbell's employment, Bob gets red: "AUCTION DETAILS:TRAFALGAR SQUARE, OIL CHRISTIES 2000,71X 90, $35,250. SYDNEY HARBOUR,OIL,DEUTCHER-MENZIES SYD, 2004,15.5X 39,$12,925. MIDDAY LIGHT,ROTTNEST, WATERCOLOUR,27 X 39,GREGSON FLANAGAN,1996,$1,870."

What what what? Do these details have anything to do with the image for sale? What is the reason for the tantalising Rottnest mention?

Bob had this, in magenta: "IF YOU HAVE ANY QUERIES PLEASE CONTACT ME BEFORE THE END OF AUCTION,I AM ONLY TOO WILLING TO HELP IN ANY WAY I CAN,,,,,"

Rotto Bloggo duly emailed Bob with our query but he was somewhat frosty in his reply: "i can see from your pleasant personality that you would be a wonderful person to deal with, i am quite happy for you not to worry about bidding on any of my items,thankyou".

Yikes! We're destined to remain in the dark about Campbell.

* Photo is in the Impressionist mode, by Rotto Bloggo

icon do that

More Rotto artistic angles.

The Rottnest Channel Swim wants a design for next year’s event and it’s worth $500.

“Regarded as a collector’s item by swimmers and support crew the iconic long sleeve shirt has been produced since 1994,” the Swim’s site gushes.

(Hmm. Do these shirts really have the characteristics of an icon? It was discussed at Curtin Uni yesterday. Rotto Bloggo accepts the word no longer applies to just Russina religious images – but the Swim shirt?)

Anyway, the winning design will be on 4000 shirts and will win the designer serious Rottnest cred.

The winner also gets the cash, or two VIP passes on Swim day, or a choice of team, duo or solo entry, and a salutation in the yearbook.

You can only use four colours and it must be printable in block colour.

You can't have a quokka in your design.

The Swim people get to own the copyright, and they will use all or part of it.

Get a move on: entries close at the end of the month.

Your Space?

Got a spare space on your wall crying out for original art?

Look no further than Rotto Bloggo: we can guide you to a superb Rottnest image.

Perth-based emerging artist Alli Sylvestre posted this on eBay yesterday.

Item number 270157400213 is an oil on board artwork called In Each Other’s Space.

It’s about “about being completely relaxed with friends and soaking up the sun and the atmosphere of Rottnest”, as Alli explains in her listing.

It’s attracted glory: the painting won the Curtin Award of Recommendation at the Town of Vincent Art Awards this month.

The cost? A mere $850. Postage is an extra $150, but to sweeten the deal for Perth buyers, Alli will do free delivery to the metro area.

Get out your tape measure: In each Other’s Space is 970w by 935h by 70d.

It’s in a limewashed wood frame and ready to hang.

“Are you charging a commission if it sells?” Alli enquired, somewhat suspiciously, when Rotto Bloggo sought permission to use the eBay image.

No no: we’re just spreading the word about Rotto images.

Rotto quiz

We went to the Rottnest Society’s AGM on Monday night.

It was a very informative evening. The Society is a group of good people. Why not consider joining?

A highlight of the evening was hearing from the relatively-new environment manager, Nicola Patrick. She’s been in the job for about eight weeks.

By the way, which of the following plant species are not indigenous to Rottnest: Melaleuca lanceolata, Acanthocarpus preissii, Callitris preissii, Templetonia retusa?

If you think you know your Rottnest, check out the Society’s quiz (the above question is question number 20, out of 30), at

http://www.rottnestsociety.org.au/rottnest_quiz_questions.htm

It sorts out the day-trippers from the hardcore fans.