Yesterday, we took a fast trip over to Rottnest Island, off the coast at Fremantle. This is the future site of our research project. We are not going to be able to carry it off on this visit. Anyway it was about a 25 minute boat ride, and we were there. The weather started out beautiful, but deteriorated to rain within a few hours of our arrival. That change in weather necessitated shortening our stay on this little vacation spot.
Rottnest has beautiful beaches, and lovely scenery. Things are a little dry right now, so we weren't seeing it at its best. The rain we received was certainly welcome as far as the locals were concerned.
One of the island's residents is a small marsupial called a quokka. Bubby was able to get a couple of photos. When the Dutch sailors first landed on this island, before ever going on the mainland of Western Australia, they thought that the quokkas were large rats. Hence the name Rottnest. They thought they had found quite a nest of rather big rats. We found the quokkas quaint, and we spotted them all over the little village.
During convict time in Aus, Rottnest was the home of a significant salt industry. There are saline ponds in the island's interior that have salinities 8-10 times greater than SMOW (Standard Mean Ocean Water). The early settlers needed salt for many things, but mostly as a preservative agent, since there was no refrigeration. At first the "miners" would just wait for summer and then rake up the salt as the pond volumes decreased due to evaporation. Later, things got a lot more sophisticated. At the height of salt production, they were shipping a ton of salt per week.
We had a lovely lunch on the island, and although we returned early, we will fondly remember this place. When our boat returned to the harbor, we noticed that there was a giant statue of a quokka near the dock. We couldn't resist a little photo op.
We played a little H&F, mixed partnerships, and it ended up a draw with Larry and Bubby winning the first game going away, and J and I cleaning up during the second.
Bubby and I are already dreading our 13 hour layover in Auckland. We exhausted our interest in shopping downtown during our last stop, so we are seeking alternate plans. We have located a ward, near the airport (Mangere South) that convenes its block at 10:00 AM. We will taxi to the chapel and hope some kind soul offers to give us a ride back to the airport when our block is over. Once we leave Auckland, we cross the dateline, have another Sunday, and arrive at LAX at about Noon.
Larry had senior seminar with his students last evening, so Bubby and I watched a movie while the students were in Larry's living room.
Bubby and Johanna are out shopping this morning. We will all meet up later to watch Larry's lecture in a geography class he is team teaching. We may even head over to "Sweet Lips", Fremantle's favorite fish and chips purveyor, before Larry's lecture. Larry and I did it about a week ago, and it did taste really fresh and really good.
Still having fun. Bubby, as always, is tons of fun to travel with.
Buboppy
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