lightning strikes calendar

A quarter of the year is nearly gone but Rotto Bloggo says this: chuck out your Audrey Hepburn/Far Side/labrador/AFL calendar and get one that has images like this instead.

Photographer Natalie Hiddlestone has a number of Rottnest pics in the calendar, which has raised $5000 for the Children's Leukaemia and Research Foundation.

This brilliant image was taken by Natalie as her lens was aimed out over Thomson Bay: as she took the pic lightning forked, and the result is a scene of amazing light.

No, it's not a painting. Natalie assures us she hasn't manipulated or touched up the image in any way.

Fancy one of these calendars? Leave a comment with your mailing address and we'll post you one gratis. Be quick! There aren't many.

Find out more about Natalie at her MySpace zone.

Rotto on ice

Now here's the frame of reference this blog likes: this in The West's online version:

'A chunk of Antarctic ice, more than 20 times the size of Rottnest, has suddenly collapsed, putting an even greater portion of glacial ice at risk, scientists said today...'

What's more than 20 times the size of Rotto? 415 sq km, says the story. Wikipedia says the beautiful island's area is 19 sq km, so it would fit in to the chilly monolith 21.842 times.

We touched up the Wikipedia entry a couple of times yesterday: a bit about Baudin leaving his flag and bottle in 1801, and a new chapter and heading on the new hotel. What else can go in? Lots. There's no mention of 'The Shark Net', for example. Work work work.

Today's image is not mine - it's from the Wikipedia entry. 'From Daisy Bates cartographical collection - National Library of Australia. Daisy Bates Special Col. /107.', and thus in the public domain.

price plunge

The value of art, like property, goes up and down.

We were fantasizing again yesterday about owning a little slice of paradise on the beautiful island when this ROBYN COLLIER "ROTTNEST PARADISE' FRAMED OIL PAINTING caught our eye on eBay (it really is paradise!):

Title: ROTTNEST PARADISE
Description: A magical scene captured in this original oil painting by Australian wilderness artist, Robyn Collier. This work of art has been undertaken in oils on canvas board and has been handsomely framed by professional framers. A certificate of authenticity is supplied and the item is despatched by registered delivery with insurance. The painting and the frame are NEW. The approximate dimensions of the painting are 25.5 x 42.5 cms. The frame is about 49.0 x 66.0 cms. Robyn has signed the painting in the lower left corner.
Condition: Excellent

Only funeral directors undertake things, so our favourite Style Guide tells us, but never mind. It costs $565, and postage is $35.

Earlier this month the painting was on eBay with a Buy-It-Now price of $835. The price has plunged 33 per cent! What to do: snap it up now, or gamble the price will fall even further?

flagging interest

When you talking things vexillological, what's the drill when it comes to Rottnest?

Yes, vexillology: the study of flags. Vexillologists are your blokes (rarely women) who know their onomasts from their vexillums and their burgees from their swallowtailed pennants.

Your typical vexillologist was in a lather yesterday as it was six years ago to the day that the East Timor flag was confirmed and had its colours re-defined in the country's constitution. White-knuckle excitement!

But Rottnest? We can't say for sure which flag was the first to be flown on the beautiful island. There's this passage from an account of a French ship, the Naturaliste, leaving something fluttering in the breeze in 1801:

"In the meantime the days fixed by Captain Hamelin to wait for the Géographe had expired, and we had heard nothing of her, nor did it now appear likely that we should obtain any news of her by staying any longer on this coast, we therefore determined to sail for Endracht's Land, leaving on this island of Rottnest a flag, and a bottle with a letter for the Commander, in case he should touch there."

No Tricolors now, please. I'm not sure about this, either, from a local flag maker. Here's what they say about it...

"An old naval tradition survives today through the Gin Flag. Often each ship in the fleet had their own Gin Flag and designs were many and varied. When the fleet was at anchor and a warship would break open the Officers Mess for Cocktail Hour, the Gin Flag was hoisted as an invitation to others to row over and enjoy a tipple.
Pennant House boasts two Gin Flag designs which are the perfect gift for the Captain with everything.

"Because of our proximity to the island, our Vexillologists have designed The Rottnest Gin Flag which features a charming cartoon of a Quokka (the quaint Kangaroo-Rat-like marsupial that is native to the Island--from which Dutch discovers named the island Rats-nest)."

easter in the west

This web page sums up Rottnest on Easter, Easter in Perth and how much meaningful religion there is in Easter.

It's supposedly about the Rotto 2007 Easter Ballot, but - there's nothing there. No words, just pics of people silently enjoying the charms of the beautiful island.

An associate of Rotto Bloggo's is right this minute soaking up the blissful intoxication of Rotto (she did well in the Rotto 2008 Easter Ballot, which started on the last day of October). She's in a touched-up bungalow. We were driven by ravenous envy last night and drove to Scarbs to eat fish and chips while looking at the sunset and peering at the outlines of the gorgeous limestone outcrop. It was too much: we called her, and had out worst fears confirmed: she'd had several libations already and was revelling in the luxury.

We encouraged her to at least think of the Fenians tomorrow: it was Easter Sunday, 1876, when the Catalpa lay at anchor between Rottnest and Garden Island, before helping stage the greatest jailbreak in colonial history.

flashing every 16 seconds

While we're on the subject of the Bathurst lighthouse...do you fancy having a Cole hanging on a wall, for a reminder of the beautiful island in between trips? Laura Cole is a (very productive when it comes to Rottnest) WA artist:

"The Artist regularly paints on Rottnest, a small but popular holiday island off the West Australian coast. No vehicles are allowed, so Laura has a large hand-cart with big wheels to move her gear around the beaches and bays of the Island. Laura likes to be on location before sunrise, to capture the early morning light."

Lots of Laura's Rotto stuff is sold. But there's a couple at least including the Bathurst lighthouse. A snip if you've got $1700.


A bit cheaper is this trifle on eBay (not pictured here): 'Nice early postcard of The Bathurst Point Lighthouse Rottnest Island Western Australia C1910 card is mint condition unused.' There have been two bids: highest so far is $14.49.

The lighthouse was built in 1900 with limestone. It's close to the original pilot station which operated as far back as 1866.

Beatle on Rottnest

We loved this anecdote in The Sunday Times recently: 'Beatle Paul McCartney was less than impressed with the island when he told journalists that Rottnest was perhaps "the rottenest island I've ever been on".

It's on a few places around the Internet so it must be true. Date? One blog reader, commenting on someone mentioning it, wonders if it was 1970s or 80s when Sir Paul was with Wings.

A Rotto Bloggo reader posted a link to some groovy 360 degree panoramas of the beautiful island. They're linked to a Google map and have a little description. The link seems to be an executable file, so you might want to have a look at the site here.

No sign of any quokkas, but the pic of Bathurst lighthouse has dramatic cloud and rain between the coast and the beautiful island. Use your mouse to rotate the image.

The Sunday Times also said Sting and Danny Green have been to Rotto. We saw former federal environment minister Ian Campbell there once. And a footy player who used to be AFL and now plays for East Freo - we've forgotten his name.

fire

Here's the photo we received from our associate yesterday: the 7 News chopper hovering over Thompson. We assumed it was to do with the shark sighting, but in fact that probably wasn't right: there was a fire on board a 26 Bertram in Thompson. By the time our operatives walked from the army jetty (they'd seen thick black smoke) it was well alight. It was being hosed with sea water, and when it seemed out it would be towed a bit further away from the main jetty...but then the flames would leap up again, so more sea water...by the time the foam was applied it was gutted.

We were down at the beach near Scarborough this morning. The beautiful island seemed 500m away. For some reason the boat fire and today's view reminded us of the sorry tale of the Vergulde Draak.

That was wrecked on 28 April 1656 a bit further north from Rottnest, of course. The Dutch sent several rescue missions. During the last, the Wakende Boei sighted Rotto aon 23 February 1658 and charted it (see the cute map here). "On 18 March the ship anchored on the north coast of Rottnest, the island was explored and it is recorded that the ship was scraped below the waterline."

The boat with the Wakende Boei seeking the Vergulde Draak was the Emmeloord: "On 8 March at about 30° 25' a fire was seen on land which, on firing signal guns, was answered by another fire." Probably indigenous residents. But later, on 28 March, another fire was seen, and it was almost certainly lit by survivors of the Vergulde Draak.

quokkas are wunderbare

Quokka consciousness has been high lately. We were diverted by sharks yesterday (a Rotto Bloggo informant sent us a pic of the Channel 7 news chopper hovering over Thompson Bay yesterday), but it's been primarily Setonix brachyurus.

Last week a Rotto Bloggo associate was on the beautiful island and said there wasn't a quokka to be seen. "...the man at the museum said that they were all over behind the lodge or something - where there was lots of tree cover because they are nocturnal.....I mean, we were even at the pub til 5.45 and no quokkas turned up there", she reported.

They could still have been celebrating Matt Henjak's sacking from his rugger team Western Farce. Poor old Matt. He said he feels abandoned by Australian rugby. But even he was able to admit: "I've certainly made some mistakes and handled things the wrong way at times." Yes, like the way you handled the quokkas. Good riddance.

In more quokka news: have you got 69 Euro spare? If so, you'll love this treaure on eBay. It's "wunderbare" - even we know that means wonderful. Hold your breath: here's the translation (of course Babelfish means Rottnest instead of rotting nest):

...marvelous old Australian bronze animal figure. "QUOKKA" around 1900th small Australian rodent, occurrence mainly on rotting nest Iceland fine artistic execution true to nature, see to photo wonderful old patina. Sculptor determines assign. Overall height of ca.10cm, rarely high-quality, ageconditioned good collecting tank condition, wonderful high-quality COLLECTING TANK OBJECT...


Finally, The Worst of Perth was kind enough to show Rotto Bloggo a book which contained this fabulous image of two quokkas taking a long draught from a tinny of industrial-strength Swan Lager. Marvellous stuff. Very illegal these days on the beautiful island of course. Was Matt Henjak on the Swan or Emu when he picked up the quokka, do you think? Thanks to TWOP: I can exclusively reveal TWOP blog may run a selection of images from the book in the near future...

HATE Rotto

Splash. Today was the big swim. The mainstream media were commendable in being organised and having stuff for people to read today. The West had a God-botherer doing the epic journey for the first time; The Weekend Australian's Magazine had an excellent Victoria Laurie item on Barbara Pellick, who's going across for the (gasp) 20th time. Struth. She has spent nearly 400km swimming to Rotto.

Our spies tell us Melissa Benson was the first lone swimmer to reach the latte-scented shore of Thompson Bay. First pair was Simon Huitenga and Rhys Mainstone. Barbara Pellick made it. Haven't heard about the religious guy.

It's the hardest way of getting there. An associate pointed us to these Travel Facts for Rottnest Island. No mention of the swim, funnily enough, of by flying machine. Rotto Bloggo has flown to the beautiful island, of course. Luxury darling. In a bizarre twist, our mother was once flown off the island when she was young and very sick.

Despite our excuse for not doing the swim - we'd prefer to be lying down - today hasn't been very recumbent. We went to the monstrous carbuncle that is Burswood to interview a celebrity gardener. He was at HATE: the Holiday And Travel Expo. While we were there we spotted the Rotto booth. Even in a tacky corner of Victoria Park there's a place that is Rottnest. We entered a competition to win $300 of Rotto time. Bet you we don't win.

back to Back

Some outstanding cricketers have been born in WA. Many saw the light of day in the city, but quite a few are from the regions: Kim Hughes was born in Margaret River, Brad Hogg came into the world in Narrogin and Bridgetown was the scene of Len Pascoe’s birth.

Rottnest cricketers? William Back (1856-1911) didn’t set the world on fire. He played two first-class matches in 1892/93 and scored 12 runs at an average of 4. His highest score was 7. No catches. CricInfo doesn’t say who he played for. But the important thing is he was born on Rotto. He died 97 years ago today, in Perth.

Who was William Back, apart from an ordinary batsman? Back is a prominent Rotto name, as any fule kno. We wonder if he was related to Edward Back, the Rottnest pilot from 1846 to 1857. The dates don’t quite make sense, though. According to this reminiscence Edward fell in love with his future wife on a ship (the Fanny) to Freo. Edward supposedly had eight children, it says here. One, William Mercer Back, lived from 1842 to 1910.

(Mary Curtis was the mother of the 1842-1910 William. The reminiscence says she “…was 96 when she died the oldest person in the colony. Her death was reported in the Perth Gazette; ‘Her death was not caused by disease or decay but from shock occasioned when a portion of her dress caught on fire.’ Her death certificate states ‘accidentally burnt’ and that she died at 5am 14 April in Fremantle.”)

It was Brad Hogg’s birthday last week (Feb 6) – we hope you sent him a card.

Today's pic is from Flickr user niki (da sempre)

moored in the e bay

The big swim is looming. Next Saturday hundreds of people will set off from Cottesloe and ingest a lot of sea water while looking longingly at the lighthouse. Rotto Bloggo would love to be part of it but recumbent commitments mean we won’t be able to show.

Someone on eBay is timing their item well: would you think of paying $499 for a ‘Rottnest Island Channel Swim SIGNED Shirt RARE!’? It has long sleeves, but $499?
‘All your favourite long distance swimmers are here!’ says the blurb (Shelley Taylor Smith, Shane Gould, Bronwen Whitehead, Susie Maroney and Mark Saliba have signed the back. ‘It is the perfect item for framing! Or if you want to wear it its a size XL. This item is in great condition. There is a mark on the front of the shirt but thats now where the signatures are anyway!’

Cheaper but not perhaps as interesting is this ‘Beautiful A4 print which will be printed on canvas effect paper and delivered first class in a hardback envelope’. A snip at around $6.51.

What about a couple of folding electric bikes? ‘I bought these bicycles to put on my boat and used at Rottnest but we have had a double addition to the family and won't be using them in the next few years so I have to sell them’. Hmmm…can you use them on Rotto? The seller says they cost around $1500, but they’re up at a (starting) price of $999.

This could be perfect for the pool room: ‘AUSTRALIAN SOUVENIR-ROTTNEST ISLAND W.A. VINTAGE RARE KEY CHAIN / BOTTLE TOP OPENER. NO DATE STAMPED ON IT BUT, I WOULD GUESS 70'S.’ It’s in Yakima, WA (Washington, not here) so the postage will be a bit.

best paint name ever

Ever heard of a Taubmans colour called Rottnest Orange?

We saw this in an old copy of Meanjin, which is now the newest edition to grace the climate-controlled, high-security cabinets of Rotto Bloggo’s study bunker. The 1993 book is called Mabo and Moral Community: the contents include ‘Rottnest Island: Rust and Irony’ by Kim Dovey.

The essay begins with Kim hurling his breakfast overboard while on a morning ferry, and is about “…the transformations of place and meaning under successive regimes of power. It is about the ironies of a place of incarceration turned place of freedom and then privilege. Rottnest is a place of semantic inversions…”

There’s talk about the prison, and how once a flu outbreak killed a third of the Aboriginal population. The pub is described as “ostentatiously castellated”. There was pressure to privatize long before the gaudy WA 1980s: in 1917 pressure to take Rotto away from the public was rebuffed.

Dovey then delves into his younger memories about the place (he crawled along gun tunnels in the dark, long before they were tidied up and became a tour). He lashes out at boaties: “Out in the bays are the most up-market units of all, which disgracefully are permitted to discharge raw sewerage into the beautiful turquoise swimming water. Reefs have been illegally blasted to remove the natural barriers to exclusive morrings in some secluded bays…the waters that surround this public reserve are dominated and polluted by private privilege.”

There are mentions of some unforgettable WA names: Alan Bond, Laurie Connell and the Man in the Panama Hat. “Indeed the egalitarian character of Rottnest has been raised to the status of myth. The image of Brian Burke mixing with the Rottnest melting pot in thongs and T-shirt was a powerful foil for the realities of WA Inc. in the 1980s.”

Marvellous stuff. And it gets better when Kim talks about the ethos of the beautiful island. “Rottnest resists the excesses of industrialization and capitalism…while food prices on Rottnest are often outrageous and the ferry service appears to be a monopoly, the best things on Ropttnest are still free…the island satisfies a growing demand for places that are not products of the market.”

And the Taubmans shade is part of the ethos: “Places like Rottnest change most effectively when they produce more of the variety and richness that generated their identity in the first place…Rottnest is a valuable piece of national heritage and we should be very careful with its development.” Righteous.

underwhelming

Do you reckon Heath Ledger was ever on Rotto? Gosh we wish so. Being a Sandgroper, the odds of him visiting were pretty good.

Heath uncertainty aside, Aboriginals were definitely there. We've touched on indigenous issues before...Tentland being closed, and the fact there was one death every eight weeks for a time on the island.


More indigenous stuff on eBay: the item description is ABORIGINES - AUSTRALIA ORIGINAL REPORT OF 1844 + 6 MAPS.

After some squinting at one of the item photos, it says something like: ABORIGINES (AUSTRALIAN COLONIES)
RETURN to the ADDRESS of the Honourable The ?House of C?
Dated 5 August 1844 –far
COPIES of EXTRACTS from the DESPATCHES of the Governors of the AUSTRALIAN COLONIES, with the REPORTS of the PROTECTORS of ABORIGINES, and any other CORRESPONDENCE to illustrate the Condition of the ABORIGINAL POPULATION of the said Colonies, from the date of the last Papers laid before Parliament on the subject, (Papers ordered by The House of Commons to be printed, 12 August 1839, No 526.)
Colonial Office, Downing-street, 9 August 1844
G.W. Hope
(Mr Alden.?)

Most intriguing. (The Rotto angle? The item has a map, 334 x 405mm, which is a "Cooured (sic) plan of the native establishment, Rottnest Island".) Only 325 GBP (or around $730, according to eBay). With our reporter hat on we contacted the seller, vld5, asking if we could ask some questions, but no joy.

"No, but you are welcome to bid, and buy it if you are the winning bidder," Mr/s 5 said.

Someone at Museum Victoria was more effusive: "The response is underwhelming from a news point of view, I’m afraid.

"The expert’s feeling is that the item is likely to be already represented in public holdings (likely National Library or other state libraries), and is not something the Museum would be interested in. We also can’t think of anyone else to refer you to for further advice on the specific document."

The item ends on Friday...no bids so far.

luvverly painting guv'nor

More politicians and art on Rotto. We’re indebted to the WA Constitution Centre for these morsels of information about Admiral Sir Frederick George Denham Bedford, who was our Governor from 1903 to 1909.

Fred was born in 1838 and joined the Royal Navy when 14 (no nonsense about being in cotton wool until he’d finished his education). ‘His family name was originally Tubb but his grandfather changed the family name by Royal licence upon inheriting property from his uncle, Dr Thomas Bedford’, says the ConCen.

Fred waged war far and wide: ‘He took part in many battles and was awarded the Crimean, Turkish and Swedish medals.

‘Sir Frederick was appointed ADC to Queen Victoria in 1888. It is said that his exceptionally high talents were responsible for his appointment as a Lord Commissioner of Admiralty. In 1892, Sir Frederick became Commander-in-Chief at the Cape and during this commission was "engaged in strenuous active naval work which he carried out to a brilliant and successful conclusion".’

A Rottnest name crops up, although it was some distance from the beautiful island: ‘In 1894, he conducted operations at Bathurst on the River Gambia for the punishment of a rebel slave-trading chief. Further action finally saw him promoted to Lord of the Admiralty in 1895. In 1899, he was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the North American and West Indies Station, a position he held until his appointment in 1903 as Governor of WA.’

Fred knew how to play to the audience: ‘In his welcome speech, Sir Frederick said that "if he did not open bazaars and make nice speeches properly at first, he would probably improve with practice". During his appointment, he opened the Geraldton Town Hall and took many trips around the State.’

He was ‘very fond of children’ and was keen on the School Amateur Athletics Association; he unveiled the marble statue of Queen Victoria in Kings Park; and then there was his painting penchant: ‘Governor Bedford was also known for his artistic abilities and he and his wife spent a lot of time at the Governor's residence at Rottnest painting and sketching. If he was there on Sundays he would often read the lesson at the Rottnest Island Chapel.’


Amazingly, this old warrior was one of the state’s first greenies. We kid you not. ‘In 1905, there were plans to sell off 300 blocks on the island but Governor Bedford protested and, in fact, it is due to his intervention that Rottnest eventually became an A class reserve. He held this office until 1909 and despite encouragement from locals to allow himself to be nominated for another term, he declined, pointing out that he had for 57 years been at work in the service of the Crown.’

His work done, he went back to the Old Dart until his death in 1913.

The image is from Snell and is a Fred effort circa 1903.

feeling blue

‘Other MPs revealed the incident likely happened at a Liberal Party gathering at Rottnest about two years ago.’

Cheating at Scrabble? Fishing from an anti-angling area? Tossing rocks onto someone’s roof? No, the incident referred to in today’s The Sunday Times is what Katie said about Troy.

"(Mr Buswell's comments) were of a sexual nature. Involving me. He had been drinking. It was offensive enough for me to indicate to the party room that I wouldn't tolerate that behaviour any more. In no other workplace would that be acceptable behaviour."

Where did the Libs gather for their love-in? Was there a lot of snorkelling on the trip? Is this (a pic on Image Dump titled ‘Troy the Conqueror: The Western Australian Leader of the Opposition, Troy Buswell’) a happy snap from the island idyll? Questions questions.

Enough of the questions. Time for stimulation of a soothing nature. Today’s pic is from Ted Snell’s ‘The Artist’s Rottnest’: Rottnest Lighthouse and Salt Lake. Elise Blumann, 1947, oil on cardboard. Owned by UWA (as is much else in this glorious state).

pinky period

Much excitement in the Rotto Bloggo fortified compound this week: another primo boffo publication was added to the special-interest bookshelves.

Ted Snell’s ‘The Artist’s Rottnest’ was published in 1988 by Fremantle Arts Centre Press and has oodles of Rottnest art. The cover of this softcover has a Guy Grey-Smith oil called – what else – Rottnest. This has never been one of our favourite Grey-Smiths (the lurid primary colours recall how Tom Ripley was repelled by Dickie Greenleaf’s Mongibello daubings) but the Wadjemup lighthouse is recognisable in the background.

The earliest artistic rendering in the book is Victor Victorszoon’s coastal profile ‘t eylant ‘t Rottenest: a watercolour and ink on paper he dashed off when he was on the Geelvinck with de Vlamingh.

The wreck of the City of York in 1899 attracted the attention of an Aboriginal prisoner: the pencil, watercolour and gouache effort on paper is in the WA Museum collection. Around about the same time Henry Charles Prinsep did a much more cheerful watercolour, Rottnest Along Thomson’s Bay, c1890s.

Some of the artists could paint the same thing today. Iris Francis’ Rottnest from 1950 is a view of a fig tree on Vincent Way.

As with Flickr photos, so too with art. Lots of people have a go at Thomson Bay or the view from a villa window or life on the rocks. But not all of them. The Snell book is a must.

Our favourite? Ashley Jones’ Vacant Implacement, a 1978 acrylic on canvas. It has a touch of the Smart about it. As Snell says: “A well-known Western Australian ‘photo-realist’, Jones has produced a number of paintings and drawings that investigate the lure of Rottnest and its less immediately recognised rituals and pleasures.”

in the sun lie

We almost choked on our latte this morning when we saw this Rottnest artefact online.

Body on the Rocks is a novel set on Rotto. It’s two audio CDs for German kids learning English. The story promises “adventure, friendship, fantasy and mystery” – so it’s a typical Rotto time.

We fired up the trusty Babelfish to turn the Deutsch into something we could understand.

‘Rotting nest is a small island before the coast of west Australia - an ideal resort with mediterranem climate and wonderful dream beaches. In this idyllische atmosphere the corpse of a man is found, and sees itself suddenly complicated into the clearing-up of a strange death to Becky, which did not want anything, as to bathe and in the sun lie. Does the murder of a 16-jaehrigen of girl have to do something more than 40 years ago with history? Who is the man with the red-blue cap, which Becky pursues obviously? And which role plays the 18-jaehrige Alex, which seems to be more than a harmless holiday-maker?’

Wow! Clive James once remarked punning on Chinese names is a very low form of humour. He would also doubtless say making fun of computer-translated language is nearly as low. But nonetheless: the corpse sees itself! But any publication about Rotto – fiction or non – is welcome news.

We saw this book on eBay. Haven’t been able to find any further information on author Denise Kirby. This is the translated bit from a German Amazon page: ‘The "Hueber readings" bring back that which youngsters aged 15 to read: adventure, friendship, fantasy and mystery. This is the perfect incentive to learn English. The combination packages (book and audio CD) is suitable both for single reading and for the incorporation in the class association. Target audience: students from 15 years in the Second Level I. Level B1 level of the European framework.’

We need to write to Mark McGowan and ensure he puts this on the WA school curriculum zofort. Body on the Rocks can be yours for EUR10.50, which is about $17.39.

still in his pyjamas

Do you remember the armoured personnel carrier that careered through the ‘burbs and the city nearly 15 years ago? Rotto Bloggo was overseas at the time: we learned about this epic tale a couple of weeks after it happened. The Americans we were with were pretty sanguine. Stuff like that happens with somewhat more frequency on the mean US streets.

A bloke stole the 11-tonne vehicle from an army depot. First stop was a fence at the Wembley cop shop: he crashed through it at 0440. A police car arrived and he bingled them. The behemoth hit the city at 0515 and dropped in to Police HQ, the East Perth lockup, the Central Law Courts, the CIB on Beaufort Street and finally Parliament House.

“…TRG officers managed to drop a tear-gas grenade into the vehicle through the loose hatch, which also gave them entry, finally arresting the offender who resisted arrest violently at about 6.15am. It was then discovered that the vehicle was not carryying ammunition for its guns,” this police document reminisces.

Exciting stuff. Rottnest can’t really offer anything comparable, but we did find this charming tale on Flickr of all places. Let’s go back to April 7, 1959…

‘A stolen 72ft seaward defence boat which was chased to sea to the north of Rottnest yesterday morning was taken by and 18-year-old youth.

‘The Fremantle Harbour Trust pilot boat Lady Mitchell caught the runaway boat and HMAS Fremantle towed the stolen SDB1325 back to port.' (The kid planned to go east and sell the thing).

‘The episode began shortly after 6am when a naval dockyard policeman noticed the boat moving away from the naval boatshed at East Fremantle. The youth, who later said he had no naval training, slipped the moorings of the luanch, started the twin-diesel engines and headed out into mid-stream.

‘Twice he ran the boat, worth about $20,000, aground on sandbanks, and the mast broke off when he passed under the railway bridge.

‘The boat’s port engine seized outside the harbour and the Lady Mitchell was able to draw alongside the SDB1235 (sic?). Still in his pyjamas the skipper leapt aboard and took control of the stolen vessel. The youth offered no resistance.’ (From The West, the day after).

More nautical news: another article on the Lissa says it’s been asked to be the VIP vessel for the Rottnest Island swim.

broken

We were idling through Flickr photos today when the site prompted us to search for photos with the phrase rottnestisland instead of the bog-standard rottnest. Up popped a user called Rottnest Island. The pics are very nice. Some (like this one) have been used in official Rotto marketing.

A call to the Rottnest Island Authority ensued. They weren’t sure who it was, but wondered if it was Chris Gosfield. Her work has been in the quarterly RIA publication Rottnest Islander. She also had a lovely image from inside a bungalow in Post Newspapers late last year.

Using Flickr to promote tourism is a good idea and an increasingly popular one. Our very own WA Tourism Commission does it, as do many other tourism bodies. The WATC uses Flickr to promote the Red Bull air race.

Putting rotto into Flickr gets you a mix of Rottnest pics, Italian images (rotto is Italian for broken) and and assortment of other stuff.

Today's pic isn't by Chris Gosfield, or us, or an Italian: it's by brilliant WA journo Victoria Laurie.