Irish swimmer

We've cut-and-pasted this marvellous story from the POST and attached a Rottnest swim numberplate we spotted in Swanbourne on the weekend...

Jennifer Hurley not only wants to finish the Rottnest Channel Swim – she wants to attend the after party as well.

Last year was the Irish swimmer's first Rottnest swim: she did well, but passed out after she made it to Thomson Bay.

“I loved it, but it was longer than I expected,” she told the POST by phone from Cork this week.

“I had a few hiccups at the start, and I made a mistake with my sun-cream.

“I didn't put it on at the start, and I dropped it in the water while I was swimming – and got very badly burnt.”

Jennifer, a 37-year-old mother of five, is doing the Rottnest swim in preparation for her first English Channel swim later this year.

The European event is nearly twice as long as the Rottnest one: the strong tides change every six hours, it is one of the world's busiest shipping lanes and only half of the solo swimmers finish the swim.

Jennifer has done a lot of open swimming and the Rottnest event is a favourite.

“I loved it last year,” she said.

“The water is so warm compared to Ireland – and you can see the bottom all the way across.

“The atmosphere is tremendous and the solo swimmers get cheers from everyone.”

Jennifer is originally from Perth and moved to Ireland 12 years ago.

She has always loved swimming but only started competing in open water events when she moved to Europe.

Swims she has done include various events on the Shannon River in Ireland, a 10km swim at Nice in France, and Escape from Alcatraz in San Francisco.

“They keep me sane,” she said.

“I also really love red wine and chocolate, so they keep me fit as well.”

Jennifer is raising money through her English Channel swim for Barretstown, a charity in the Wicklow Mountains in Ireland which helps children with cancer and other illnesses.

“It's a magical castle in the foothills of the mountain where kids go for fun,” she said.

“I'm hoping to raise 10,000 euros or more.”

Her children, who are aged between eight and 19, helped her choose which charity would benefit from her swim.

“If the kids aren't on board, the swimming doesn't work,” she said.

“I sat down with them and we threw around some ideas – and they decided who to support.”

Jennifer arrives in Perth five days before the February 20 Rottnest swim.

After the 19km event she will spend two weeks here with family and friends.

quokkers

Big it up for Jess Manea: she had a fab time on the beautiful island and still has that Rotto magic.

Snorkelling, fishing and her first game of mini-golf at Brett Heady's Family Fun Centre - it was the perfect time on Rottnest.

Even Canadian nurses fall in love with the beautiful island. "Arriving at Rotto at sunset will be one of the most beautiful sites of this trip," said Brittany, Danielle, Jodie and Valena from southern Alberta.

"There is a cute pub on the island that we went to and on the way we had our first encounter with Quokkers. These creatures are tiny little marsupials that look like miniture kangaroos and are only on this island."

It was so good they swore they were in the Caribbean.

We love this pic of a tree on Rottnest by Flickr user MonzTris.

pulchritudinous parade

There will be a bevy of beachside beauties later this month on the beautiful island.

A heat of Miss Universe WA will be held on Rottnest.

The event will have three heats with 11 women in each.

Four contestants from each heat will go through to the final at Burswood next month.

The pulchritudinous parade will be at Hotel Rottnest on Saturday, February 27, from 2pm.

Geordie Google?

Monday is your last chance to nominate Rottnest to get Googled.

We were so excited to read the beautiful island was a certainty to get ogled by Google - but when we rang the Google people they said Asher Moses was incorrect.

How can you get something like that wrong?

Anyway...the search engine behemoth is using a tricycle to photograph Australian places not accessible to cars.

Google's Street View trike is a 110kg modified bike with a mounted Street View camera and GPS system.

The photos it takes are used in its Maps Street View feature.

Google has four categories in which people can submit suggestions: city life, cultural areas, natural wonders and hidden gems.

Submit your ideas at www.google.com.au/trike.

Entries close on Monday 8 February – winners will be announced on 25 February.

more dancing

Outstanding south-of-the-river blogger Fremantlebiz has given us an excuse to mention Under The Lighthouse Dancing again.

The last time we looked at UTLD it was primarily about the house built on the beautiful island for the film.

In his amusing post today, Mr Fremantlebiz wonders if Blame - being filmed in the hills as we speak - will make it onto next year's Oscars list.

"There have been a lot of non-Oscars for locally made feature films. The psycho-drama Last Train to Freo which I mentioned on 18 September 2006, failed to be nominated. Same thing with a local 2008 boxing epic featuring colourful real-life underworld identities titled Two Fists One Heart. It comes out on DVD next month.

"And who could forget the 1997 melodrama Under the Lighthouse Dancing which was made at great expense on our very own Rottnest Island: 'The story of six friends who journey to an island off the coast of Australia for the weekend. Two of them, Emma and Harry, announce that they intend to get married, but have made no plans, nor do they have a proper license. Emma also announces that she is very ill, and all she wants is a wedding. The other four friends then try to find a way to make it all happen…' Surprisingly, it also missed out on an Academy Award."

Mr Fremantlebiz reproduces the UTLD poster - which has emboldened us to do so as well.

Speaking of local fillums, we wonder if the cast and crew of Harlequin were able to see Rotto from the groovy house they were in?

Rotto poles

More art news about the beautiful island just in.

This Rottnest scene oil is being exhibited in Freo until Feb 25.

It's the work of Liz Unwin, who says:

"This scene is from a photo I took of some old poles near the shore. I loved the patterns in the sea but, as this was my first oil painting, I found them difficult to reproduce. I managed to capture the effects eventually and learnt a lot in the process (thanks to Brian Simmonds, my art teacher)."

The exhibition is at Fidels, Essex Street, Fremantle.

rotto photos

The RIA's Facebook page is doing a good job: it tells us The Lodge has slashed rates by 20 per cent, and there are nifty-looking photographic exhibitions coming up.

'If you like photography make sure you head to FotoFreo this March/April to check out some of the exhibitions - there will also be a fringe festival including exhibits on Rottnest...' says the RIA.

And indeed Botanical Portraits from Oliver Cardona is on at the Holy Trinity Church from 20 March to 18 April: 8am - 6.30pm, plus a Mass every day at 9am if you're so inclined.

'Botanical Portraits is a collection of flower studies that grow around the artist’s suburban house. Most of these plants are hardly ever noticed and sometimes considered as weeds either because they are too small, too common or grow too low. Looked at up close and in isolation however, the true beauty of these plants is exposed and intricate detail can be appreciated. Wild plant life is often taken for granted and often considered a nuisance around the house and we rarely stop and look at what the lawn mower is chewing up.'

Elizabeth McCaig also has something at The Lodge from 10 March - see the FotoFreo site for more.

salinger in the bay

As soon as we heard the news we knew what today's post would be.

So J.D. Salinger is no longer with us. What to add to the torrent of words being processed about Jerome David Salinger?

We love the name of his town in New Hampshire: Cornish. Most people are reporting that. The consensus seems to be Franny & Zooey was naff. These people don't understand - they don't have a grasp of the big things.

A random par (from the L.A. Times) plucked from the oodles of obits: "His silence provoked a range of reactions from literary critics, some characterizing it as a form of cowardice and others as a cunning strategy that, despite its outward intentions, helped preserve his mythical status in American culture. Still others interpreted his withdrawal as the deliberate spiritual stance of a man immersed in Eastern religions, particularly Zen Buddhism and Hindu Vedantic philosophy."

Some people are as dumb as a sack of hammers.

Through the Glasses darkly.

Rick Moody is warmer: "It's an even more perfect silence now that he is gone, one that is unvarying, but one that is consistent nonetheless with the complete output of this singular American genius."

The Rottnest link? Of course, we thought back to Dave Franklin's novel Manic Streets of Perth, where Kim lies in bed remembering the trip from Freo to Rottnest on the yacht of her former fiance's dad.

The yacht was called Salinger.

exploding beans

We are indebted to the Rottnest Society's latest newsletter for this memory from Nellie Marsden of the beautiful island in 1958.

"Married only three months to my husband John, we decided to go to Rottnest for Easter. I worked at Mac Robertson Miller Airlines, so we could fly to Rottnest for the princely sum of 8/6 (about 85c).

"We arrived about 6pm on Thursday evening and erected our small tent before dark. We were the only ones on the camping ground. That was soon to change: many others were on the Islander coming from the Barrack St jetty on a three-hour journey to arrive around 9.30pm. In the dark we heard much banging and yelling and by morning there was not an inch of ground without a tent on it.

"Fires were lit and tins of baked beans thrown in: they exploded and showered the area with cooked beans and embers. Soon it started to rain, it bucketed down and some low-lifes with pitchforks went around randomly puncturing tents. To plug the holes, people covered their tents with glossy magazines. As if this was not enough, if you were lucky to avoid the pitchfork, they had another prank up their sleeves.

"Coming back to your tent, you could find the tent poles removed and the tent spread out like a deflated balloon over whatever was inside.

"The quokkas, too, got into the act. They entered our tent in the night and got into our food supply, they even nibbled our toes.

"We'd had enough by that stage and decided never to stay overnight on Rottnest again - after that we became day trippers."

island time!

It was tough on Cottesloe today: we've just returned from that scrap of sand after photographing many young women in bikinis as they strove to break a record of some sort.

It involved floating on thongs, but we were distracted by the sight of the beautiful island - which seemed only metres away. It seemed so close we could swear we saw lucky people fishing from the natural jetty.

On our sulky drive home we heard that ad for Island Time on the radio (Rottnest: Take me to the island!").

It suggested we point our browser to island dash time dot come dot au - we misheard and forgot the dot au, and were confronted with advertising for a manifestly inferior island called Rattan or something off the coast of Honduras. Honduras!

But the dot au version is tops. Check it out and resolve to get there soon. We know we did.

more cricket news

What do Kim Hughes, Alastair Cook and William Back have in common?

Rottnest cricket links: Rotto Bloggo is please to add to (or add to the aggregation of) things connecting the beautiful island and the great game.

In the SMH we read Cook (Test average 42.65) played for Willetton a few years ago.

"The day before one game, he joined friends for a trip to Rottnest Island, fell off his bike and suffered a big gash to his leg. Rather than pull out of the game, he battled on and, batting at No.8, scored a few runs to help salvage a draw."

Admirable. Not as admirable as Kim Hughes (Test average 37.41) on Rotto a long time ago, as we recounted in March last year.

And William Back (first class average 4.00) was born on Rottnest.

seduced bays

The brutish fog of our champagne hangover cleared suddenly this morning when we read this.

From the first few words we knew we were in for a treat:

"Going to Australia in old times, was not an easy job. The flight fares were high, the routings were complicated and hectic and affordability was simply, out of question."

It gets much better, and not only because it's about the beautiful island. We reproduce it here, but you may want to inspect it in situ, and copied and pasted here.

"However, today, where all fields and industries have modernized and diversified to play their part in making the world a global village, Travel Industry is also offering compatible fares for Australia with direct or indirect flights to Australia. The fares from Business class to economy, all are at promotions and discounts to boost tourism in the country.

"ROTTNEST ISLAND
"Perth city is flat and compact, easily navigated and proud of its safe and friendly environment, a perfect place for a special day out or stay. Excellent shopping, eating out, entertainment, culture and heritage, leisure and sport are all within close proximity in city centre. Visit Rottenest Island, where u can explore history, bike ride to secret beaches and kakyak to seduced bays. It is just a short ferry ride from Perth.

"Rottnest Island is a popular holiday destination for locals and tourists, and because of its close proximity to Perth your stay there can be as long or short as u like, due to the frequencies of ferry services to the Island day trips are very popular. Rottnest provides all that is required for a relaxing get away, coral reefs make for fantastic diving and snorkeling; hidden bays and deserted cycle paths waiting to be explored. The small marsupial quokka a bit like a small kangaroo only exists on this Island Rottnest coastlines very attractive, there are numerous secluded bays with clear water and white beaches to rival any island in the world. With over 60 beaches to choose there is no shortage of choice, at the top of every hill and the turn of every corner, another one comes in to view. All bays are popular spots for swimming and dazzling on the beach.

"Rottnest Island also has historical value and many historical places to visit one can go for a guided tour to aboriginal prison or Rottnest museum. Rottnest settlement was originally established as a prison for aborigines from the mainland, although there were no new prisoners from 1903,the existing prisoners had to serve out there sentences before 1920.The island is a sacred site for Noongar because hundreds of there people died there.

"Rottnest Islands Mediterranean climate, native flora and fauna like pines and tea trees makes it a must experience of Perth.Popular island activities include cycling around the island, golf, mini golf, tennis and lawn bowls. There’s also a hop-on-hop off bus service, as well as guided tours exploring the early colonial buildings, lighthouse and the islands crucial role in World War I and II."

isle of girls 2

The beautiful island is again set to be (temporarily) more beautiful: Miss Universe WA semi-finals are coming.

According to the Busselton-Dunsborough Mail, a Margs winery is (again) hosting semi-finals - and another heats will be on Rotto before the Burswood finals.

No date provided for the Rottnest event. We hope it's at the Basin. 'Bevy of bikini babes Basin-bound', we would be able to report.

The Margs winery is Palmers Wines. Their 2003 Directors Reserve Shiraz is a snip after being discounted from $420 to $336.

movies and moving

We almost jumped in our luxury craft Bylines to charge across to the beautiful island: District 9 is on at 8pm at the movies.

The picture hall has a nifty Facebook presence: we love seeing what's on. Of course the greatest cinematic experience we've had at Rotto (apart from sitting next to a 16-year-old girl we were hanging out with when we were also 16 - we saw the Village People movie) was seeing Borat, with Americans.

The RIA is getting the hang of FB, too: this is their most recent post: "Ahhh snorkelling bliss. Great visibility, perfect weather - heavenly". 32 people like it so far.

And speaking of online entities and the beautiful island, Simon Beaumont (for it is he) seems to have started blogging again in preparation for the channel swim on February 20.

Simon is the engine room of Team Curly. Good thing, too...

"My team is incredibly underdone. Morale is down, skinfolds are up. Our preparation has been characterised by politics, in fighting and corruption. A bit like the state Labor Party..."

picture post

A brilliant young media operative has shared her pics with Rotto Bloggo.

We believe she was instrumental in the filming of a high-profile documentary on the beautiful island.

Much footage was captured and much refreshment was required.

unlimited farrago

Sometimes we feel like strangers in a strange land on the Internet. For example: "Australia is an in conclusion singular country, which allows the tourists to design roughly anything from it. The farrago in land & embankment is unlimited, outrageous and enormous trimming vastly from pretentious deserts to the white sandy beaches."

Right right. The bizarre language on Florida-Sportsman-Magazine must be read to be believed. This is their assessment of the beautiful island:

"What creates Perth the unusual electrifying city we know, is the enthralling and lovely captivate of Perth Beaches. Closer to Perth, The Basin at Rottnest Island is a easeful firth colored with far-reaching accumulation of fish. It is a mental condition mark for those who love to snorkel and swim."

F-S-M also likes Cottesloe, Lancelin and Broome: "where furious bottlenose dolphins continually come ashore to give the air a blithe lick and swelling the happiness that’s regularly in the air of Australia."

It sounds like Jesper trying to imitate a drunk Jane Austen while experiencing a G-force of 4.2.

We asked Internet guru Bret Treasure what F-S-M is for (we thought it might be to dispense malware).

But BT said "it's probably just some near randomly generated text to try and score web traffic so that they get ad revenue".

Strange days indeed.

still there

We love this description of the beautiful island by a bloke trying to build a boat:

"Spent a week at Rottnest Island, off the coast of Perth, WA. This is a beautiful place, and still not destroyed by over development. The famous pub "Quokka Arms" is a bit more like "McDonalds with Beer" these days, and there are security guards (groan), but the view is still there and the beer's cold."

We were on the coast yesterday and drank in the view from Cottesloe. A bit hazy, but still satisfactoty. Would you believe we could see the beautiful island from this spot, but it doesn't come out in the photo. Shame.

These blokes also had a fab time: "The ride home was very entertaining the bow splash was spectacular."

That's a long way from complaining about only being able to see water from the ferry.

float my boat

A reader sent us this photo of a nice boat in Thomson Bay.

It was built in WA by Evolution Yachts in Henderson and is called the Anya.

It belongs to Tim Roberts, who was an Evolution director when the Anya was built.

According to a WA Government publication, the “superyacht” was launched last year.

The 35-metre catamaran has a spa, helicopter deck, “fully integrated AV”, high-speed Internet and an air-conditioned external main deck area.

Of course it's much like Rotto Bloggo's humble craft Bylines, which will be nosing around Doctor paddlers tomorrow.

doctor diverted

We are sorry for our absence this week: we've been ensuring Bylines, our 35m superyacht, is in readiness for The Doctor.

So imagine our astonishment when race organisers told us late today the course has been changed!

"The race times and direction for The Doctor surf ski world cup have changed due to predicted offshore wind conditions on Saturday," they said.

"The Doctor race on Sat 16th Jan will now run from Port Beach, Fremantle to Rottnest."

Finishing on Rottnest instead of starting from it! That's more like it. Arrival at the beautiful island is, like ten thousand times more preferable than departure.

The start will be outside Salt on the Beach restaurant; the finish is undoubtedly that crescent of sandy kelpy perfection, Thomson Bay.

Stand-ups and paddleboards start at 7am, the female ski paddlers kick off at 8 and the bloke surf ski paddlers depart at 8.30.

The race will soon be on and all the pre-event publicity will be worth it.

doctor doctor give me the news

This time last year Rotto Bloggo was churlish, superior, loutish and snippy - in summary, self-indulgent to extremes - when we ridiculed some media release writing about a race that starts from Rottnest.

It was so much fun, in fact, let's do it again: The Doctor is six days away, and organisers are hoping their PR efforts will be sucked into the maw of the hungry beast that is Teh Media.

'When Wembley Downs adventure racer John Toomey lines up for the ‘The Doctor’, the richest ocean paddling race in Australia on January 16, he will look across the starting line and see not only the best surf ski paddlers in the world but also an Olympic champion.'

It always dangerous predicting things, but OK. The misplaced comma is only mildly distracting.

'With more than $30,000 on offer ‘The Doctor’, as the 24 kilometre marathon downwind paddle from Rottnest Island to the Scarborough Beach Auditorium is known, has attracted a who’s who of the ocean paddling elite as well as a host of top kayakers led by Beijing gold medallist Kenny Wallace.'

How much more? $100 million? $30,266? Who's who - that's like the Bible of lists of famous people. We're not sure if the collective noun for kayakers is host.

'Australia’s elite will shape up against a raft of international stars including leading South Africans Hank McGregor and brothers Dawid (third in 2009) and Jasper Mocke as well as paddlers from New Zealand, USA, Hong Kong and Europe.'

Mother of God: they were shaping up last year, too. Will the stars raft up, Medusa style, after the event?

'Toomey has paddled a surf ski intermittently for more than 20 years since learning the craft when he was a member of Floreat surf club but the 36-year-old has spent the best part of two decades competing at an elite level in triathlon, orienteering and now adventure racing.'

Hmm. We often bicker with colleagues about journalism being either a trade or a professions. We rarely reach a conclusion. We can't even bring ourselves to enter the decade debate on a Sunday afternoon.

'Three straight victories in the Teva series and a top placing in the Alps to Ocean race in Victoria shown great adventure racing success but a foot surgery in November forced Toomey off his feet and into the surf again.'

A foot surgery forced him off his feet! Far out! He fiddled, fearfully, with his fresh farnarkling gear...

See http://www.oceanpaddler.com/ for the deets...

grill sergeant

This culinary news in from the RIA's Facebook page:

'This Friday, Saturday and Sunday Hotel Rottnest will be hosting 'Hot Off the Grill' with Celebrity Chef Don Hancey. He will be serving up dishes fresh from the grill in the courtyard. Matt Gresham will be playing from 8pm Friday and Saturday.'

If you get in your Bayliner now you'll be there with time to spare for the entertainment.

We don't get out much, but we hadn't heard of Hancey before. As well as being a celeb, he is a consultant. He certainly writes like a consultant: "We use an holistic approach to all levels of business by way of incorporating sustainable and best management practices."

anchor angst

An unsecured anchor meant heartache for some divers at Rottnest last week.

Two men anchored at Little Armstrong Bay on Friday and went underwater.

The Bayliner dragged its anchor onto the reef and sustained gel coat damage and scratches.

When the divers came back to the surface after only 20 minutes they were surprised to find their craft gone.

“ A couple of lads in a zodiac helped by ferrying one diver to the boat after he surfaced,” a witness said.

The divers stood on the reef and tried to coax their craft back into deeper water.

Senior Constable Matt Oakley from Rottnest police said boats drifting because they hadn't been properly secured was a frequent occurrence.

“There's a major incident every couple of weeks,” he said.

“Boats don't always end up on the rocks but there are plenty of close calls.”

Sen-Const Oakley said it was essential to follow basic safety rules when anchoring a boat at Rottnest.

“It's always good to dive straight down and check your anchor is secure and not dragging,” he said.

“It's also advisable to have another person stay on the boat while others are diving.

“Make sure your equipment is serviceable, and tell someone where you're going and when you'll be back.”

return of the Rodholder

Time for Rotto Bloggo's Believe It Or Not: we're indebted to the Busselton-Dunsborough Mail for this extraordinary tale with a happy ending.

"I would like to advise you our Rodholder is missing," Dr Mostyn Hamdorf told his associate Lindsay Perry.

It was bad news big time: the good doctor and Mr Perry co-own Barney's Rodholder, a snazzy 4.8m cabin cruiser.

The Rodholder went AWOL on NYE, which "galvanised a flurry of activity aimed at finding and retrieving the missing vessel", the B-DM reports.

Please revel in the writing - but to cut to the chase, computer modelling accurately predicted the Rodholder would drift towards the beautiful island.

And it was thus: the Rodholder was found close to Rottnest.

"The very grateful owners drove to Perth the following day to pick up their well-travelled but undamaged boat," the Mail concludes.

Let's hope the doctor and his mate had a refreshing beer in Thomson Bay before the long trip home.

distant horizon

We were down in Cottesloe today on business: as we drove along Eric Street we were anticipating the first glimpse of the beautiful island - but no! Some weird haze thing was happening.

No view for Rotto Bloggo. We wished for an arctic mirage, but nothing.

We're reading First Encounters by Joseph Cummins: 'epic true stories of cultural collision and conquest'. Amongst the tales of Vikings killing Algonquin and Romans invading Britain is an account of the Arctic mirage.

"In certain unusually clear and sunny atmospheric conditions, light waves are refracted, as if through a prism, so they bend with the curvature of the Earth, causing glaciers or mountains lying below distant horizons to be reflected upwards, even to rise over the horizon, something mariners call looming," Cummins says.

Can it be true? He says in 1939 some sailors saw Iceland from 550km away, and it looked a mere 40 km away. That's only twice the distance from Cott to Rott.

Also: "When the Noongar first heard reports of Vlamingh on Rottnest, they thought that the dead had come back to life and were returning to haunt their land."

Actually we made that bit up. There's no Rotto mention in First Encounters.

While you're here, please congratulate Nikola and Thomas on their recent Basin wedding.

watery grave

It's all happening over there: the biggest news is three blokes from the eastern suburbs were plucked, wrung out, from the water off the West End.

The divers were about three km off the beautiful island when they drifted from their boat on Sunday morning.

Police said the men were lucky to survive.

“They were swept away in a very, very strong northerly current,” one officer said.

Water Police were on patrol in the area and only saw one of the divers because he was signalling with a loop from his cray line and his catch bag.

The exhausted man was plucked from the water half a kilometre from his vessel and told police he had been drifting for about an hour.

Officers soon located the other two men – one had severe cramps, could no longer swim and didn't have a flotation device.

The water policeman said one of the divers admitted things would have ended differently if police hadn't seen them.

“Given the distance they were from their boat this could easily have become a search for bodies later in the day,” he said.

“They are very lucky to be alive.”

Obligatory safety advice: it is essential for divers, fishers and swimmers to let people know detailed information about where they were going and when they would return.

Saying you are going diving off the West End is not enough detail.

No word yet on how Antonia is doing at the Lodge.

This bloke has the right idea about things to do: a trip to Rottnest is at the top of his list.

Lodge labour

Big it up for Antonia, who starts work on the beautiful island today.

Ms Wohlfahrt has been in WA for about a month: Freo, Scarborough, Perth and of course Rottnest.

"I have luck! I got a job at Rottnest Island...on Sunday,03/01/2010 I start at the biggest resort there - housekeeping at Rottnest Lodge," she writes on her blog.

"That will be such a great time at this beautiful spot! Just 25 keys when you want to go completely around with the bike; no cars on the whole island, the sea everywhere and a absolutly great nature!!!"

No argument there.

Hopefully a Rottnest pic will take the place of that Queensland scene at the top of her blog.

Of course, the Lodge has up to 80 rooms - we trust Antonia won't have to look after them all herself.

The Lodge website isn't too flash - no specials or reason to return - but there are pushing conferences (prices unknown).

rottknits

Mother In Law's Quilt: no, it's not a new strain of Paterson's Curse - it's a delightful creation whipped up on Rottnest.

We've been admiring Helen's blog, Patchy Work of Mini Grey, for the tantalising details of the beautiful island.

"We are still in Rottnest and still waiting on the call for Daz's placement..... but the sewing goes on in the meantime, well a little bit of sewing," she reports.

"I sewed the binding on this quilt and brought it over to do the hand sewing in time to finish it for my Mother In Law's birthday on the 3rd. I have finished ahead of schedule!"

The sewing is quality work. We also like the plastic chairs, fibro fences and cross balcony struts of worker housing you can see in the images.

Helen doesn't have a tape measure: who will send her one?

Facenest

Rotto Bloggo has been lucky enough to have a New Year on the beautiful island: it was magic welcoming 2007 from the balcony of a plush Geordie Bay waterfront pad.

Our warmest wishes and creeping envy go out to everyone there last night and today.

Here are a few recent Facebook posts to try and make you feel like you're there/just been there/going there.

Forgot what it was like bike riding around Rottnest Island - a great way to keep fit but sunburnt and "sore". Thanks for the day Em,Han and Liam!!!

is off to rottnest :-)

subway goon and ipod on rottnest island :)

yay im at rottnest :D time to party at the rottnest pub tonight :p cocktail time soon

Just to let you all know tht we survived the fires and thanks to those who rang. It missed us by about 5k's and ,but for a wind change, we could have been in serious trouble. We are currently self medicating at Rottnest

is onto the ferry this arvo to entertain the punters at Hotel Rottnest. Have a good one, see y'all next year!

Snorkling at Rottnest yesterday. Put my foot down on a rock and after a couple of minutes felt something on my foot. Looked down & saw a big octopus trying to sucker itself to my foot. Yuk!

rottnest island here we come

We had a such a nice time @ Rottnest island it was Fun,Fun,Fun!!!!! My anniversary was so romantic.............thanx love.

is having a wonderful time in Fremantle.. spent the day cycling and swimming at Rottnest yesterday and is celebrating ten years with Jard today.. happy anniversary baby :-)

went to Rottnest Island today with spence and had a great day -lots of sun, sea and quokkas!!!!!!!!!

Rottnest was awesome- but: Bikes hurt my bottom, seasickness sucks and sunburn hurts me everywhere!

Doggnest

You don't see many dogs on the beautiful island - but dogs look at Rottnest all the time.

A new book has a couple of views of Rotto: I, Cott Dog has about 315 photos of dogs photographed in glorious Cottesloe.

David Hocking took the photos between 2005 and this year and says they all say one thing.

“They tell no tale other than the love that exists between friends and fellow clan members in a place whose heart is indelibly linked to the sky and sea that surrounds it,” he said.

The most-photographed breeds are “little fluffy white things” and golden retrievers.

Many of the photos were taken by Beaches Cafe on Marine Parade, from which you can see the majesty that is the Rottnest outline.

Only 10 people refused to have their photos taken with their dogs.

David is a keen supporter of the Dogs' Refuge Home in Shenton Park: part-proceeds from the $45 book will go to the not-for-profit organisation.

“Activities are motivated by the fundamental understanding that dogs are entitled to the same love and respect that they unconditionally give to us,” David said.

“The Home has a no-kill policy, which ensures that no dog will be euthanised on economic grounds.

“Every year they take in many hundreds of dogs that have been abused, neglected or simply no longer wanted.”

David currently has no dog and lives in Fremantle.

The book's cover features Tara, a Rottweiler just out of the North Cottesloe surf.

“She's a gem because she thinks the sun comes out of the sand, which is not exactly untrue, scientifically speaking,” David said.

The book is for sale at Beaches, Collins bookstore in Cottesloe, The Lane Bookshop In Claremont and the newsagency in Swanbourne.

It can also be bought online at vividpublishing.com.au

It's a snip at $45 and David only printed a thousand - get in quick.

rich in environment

Our post on the feeble Forum language was popular - and we've found some more connected with the beautiful island.

We didn't mean to, but we're reading Don Watson's Bendable Learnings (subtitle: The Wisdom of Modern Management).

The introduction is a superb rant against learning centres and having to be accountable and fetishising diversity and going forward - then Don gets stuck into mission statements.

"A company without a mission statement is like an evangelist without the cross or a shaman without her spirit animal. The same goes for any other business, including government departments..."

And lo, here is the Rottnest Island Authority's mission statement: "Rottnest Island is conserved and enhanced as a unique island destination rich in environment, culture, and heritage, offering a relaxed holiday experience for Western Australian families and other local, interstate and overseas visitors."

Then Don hops into vision statements. Thankfully we can't see one for the RIA.

modern medusa

Our grumpy post about the raft-up last week has been vindicated - but we got it wrong.

You'll recall we likened a raft-up to conditions on one of the notorious sheep ships: bodies packed together, hot hot hot, distressing noise...

There's an excellent report in today's West on a Boxing Day raft-up at the beautiful island's Parakeet Bay: "WA Police have expressed grave concerns about the safety of "raft-ups" - when boats are lashed together for a party - after an event involving hundreds of revellers on Rottnest Island descended into drunken chaos and caused several injuries."

Hundreds of pissed punters on about 30 boats - it's a powder keg, as our favourite Rotto policeman was paraphrased as saying (yes, you can have a powder keg on water).

Where have we heard this terrible tale before? A tragedy of a mass of seething humanity on a hurriedly-constructed raft...shocking things happen before the rescue...those who survive endure starvation, dehydration, cannibalism, and madness...it becomes an international scandal...

The waves of the bay gently rock the makeshift raft...some of the men stare into their Lemon Russkies in utter despair...one young woman holds back the hair of another who was her bridesmaid only last week...bodies litter the poop deck...the horror...it is Gericault in the West Aussie sun.

uniqueness

Some funny writing has happened on the way to the Forum.

Not so much funny as dreary. The Australian Institute of Company Directors are spruiking their "iconic" Rottnest Forum - the big event happens in March.

The blurb is exactly how we imagine a tired company director writes as s/he attends to the last task of a busy day.

How many cliches, punctuation and spelling errors can you see?

Your readership is important to us, so going forward we should include the fact the Forum is a bargain at $340 for non-Institute members.

"The iconic Rottnest Forum has been etched in the calendars of the Perth business community since it was founded some 30 plus years ago.

"With members and guests travelling to the island on a flotilla of boats, this event blends the naturally relaxed pace of the island with a keynote address and member fellowship during morning tea and lunch overlooking the pristine Thompson’s Bay.

"The 2010 Rottnest Forum will feature Mr Cameron Clyne, Group Chief Executive Officer of National Australia Bank as the key-note speaker who will share his business life in this unique setting.

"Numbers are limited for this event so please register early to avoid disappointment."

world bikini capital?

In September last year we expressed mild frustration at not knowing more about Brad Ness' Rottnest accident.

The frustration has been washed away - mostly - thanks to this report in The National Newspaper.

We don't see TNN often - it's in Abu Dhabi - but reporter Robert Philip has lots of details.

Last year Brad was quoted as the accident being like a chef chopping through a carrot - but in this "when the ferry moved out the rope snapped tight and sliced off my right foot as cleanly as a cheese wire cutting through a chunk of Cheddar."

Read and enjoy, but wonder: did the trip back to the mainland take 90 minutes? Is the beautiful island really "the bikini capital of the world"?

how satisfied?

We followed up this week on a survey we did in June on the ferry coming back from the beautiful island.

It had 24 questions: the ones we were interested in were 19-21: what is the single most enjoyable thing about Rottnest Island, what is the one thing on RI most in need of improvement, what one thing could be added to improve the visitor experience?

The RIA's 08/09 annual report says 1411 people did the survey: 85 per cent were "satisfied" with the "general facilities and services" and 86 per cent were "satisfied" with recreational and holiday services and facilities.

Only 75 per cent were "satisfied" with the accommodation - the RIA's target was 85 per cent.

Mind you a whopping 96 per cent said their visit "met or exceeded expectations".

RIA says: "The significant improvement in overall satisfaction with recreational services and facilities reflects the RIA's focus on providing improved accommodation, greater variety of recreational activities and a more desirable mix of retail service providers."

hurting but

Stef was stiff after her sojourn on the beautiful island this week.

A sibling seemed sickly, and the bike ride was fun - but a challenge:

"...it was extremely tiring, there was like so many uphills and I srsly have no energy left so I push the bike up :D, well my parents did it as well >>"
it was about 12/13 km man ._. I cycled so much, my but hurts like crap cuz the bicycle seat was so amn hard, and on the way we saw a quokka , its actually really cute :D".

The flies were monstrous, but the Dome lunch was satisfying and there was fun on the beach.

Paul's experience of Rottnest was a little disquieting.

There are "views to the Rottnest Island" from where he was, and his view is "only a stoner throw away" from a park - but I'd rather not have read about "Matti's Virgin Camping Experience".

Merry Xmas - see you after the faux-turkey.

view from the hill

The beautiful island has never looked so close and yet seemed so far away.

Today's pic is taken from the top of Buckland Hill in Mosman Park: why look at the rooftops of this southern western suburb when you can gaze at Rottnest?

Our viewing interregnum was a welcome tonic in between rushing around from story to story like a blue-arsed fly - we tell you, we've been busier than Kevin Rudd's travel agent.

Get this quote...follow that thing up...what is this POI doing...we love it of course, but we love it even more when we know there's a countdown to when we next step off the Rottnest Express boat.

Back to the salt mines.

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.