Wednesday 1st November – Penguin Island

It’s been two weeks since we have heard anything from Campers Inn in the US.  I know it can take a couple of weeks to bring everything together but they haven’t even confirmed they received our payment details or given us a date when the sale is likely to take place yet.  I have had to email Joe again today and copy in his Manager.  If that doesn’t work then I can call them with my new international SIM card!

Penguin Island was another recommendation we had to take up.  Hoping to rent a kayak to travel to the island under our own steam but finding none available, we opted to take the five-minute ferry to the island instead.  There, we took the walking trail round the island and started capturing pictures of various seabirds, from pelicans to bridled or crested terns to pied oystercatchers.  We got our full geek on – we have brought the full-scale, proper binoculars with us this time so along with my new camera there is no stopping us!

The view from Penguin island back to the mainland

With no land predators the ground nesting birds are very relaxed

 

 

 

Crested terns looking out from the cliffs

Pied oystercatchers

Pelican nesting area

A skink

The whole island is a nature reserve with humans confined to the boardwalks and the stunning beaches, so the scenery was something special. 

Despite our best efforts, sadly, it turns out that the famous Little penguins of Penguin Island, the smallest breed of penguins in the World, are either hiding under rocks during the day or out at sea feeding.  This meant that the only chance we got to see them was at the Discovery centre on the Island where some orphaned birds are fed at regular intervals.  The penguins were very cute. But in no time at all we had to head back on the ferry to the mainland.

Little Blue penguin

We headed to Rockingham to meet up with another ex-colleague from the UK who made the move to Oz about two years ago, James.  He had recommended a tapas restaurant called Rusticos, right on the coast.  It was meant to be a reunion with some other ex-UK officers we knew, but sadly they couldn’t make it and even James’ girlfriend had to take a rain check when she got stuck at work.  But that’s how it goes in the Police, so the three of us had a catch-up before James went off to visit the gym before heading for another night shift.

This meant that we were back at the house by 7ish for beers and a chat with the Allens before an early night in order to make a longer day of it at Rottnest Island tomorrow.