Rottnest Island

ok just to clarify:
Waterford - bar/restaurant next to campus that does Karaoke wednesday nights..very interesting
The Tav - oncampus bar/restaurant that sometimes has awesome bands and such playing and where Beach Bash will be held in March!!!! SOO excited!!
The aussies love to abbreviate..I am a fan.

Onto Rottnest (Rotto) Island:
Two of my friends (Benedikt from Germany and Sebastion from Sweden) and I went to Rottnest Island today. We caught the bus at 825 this morning and headed for Fremantle, which is about an hours bus ride. Once there, we figured out how to purchase tickets to the ferry (thank you student discount!), and waited around to board. Bene and I rode on the deck but Sebastion decided to ride inside because he gets seasick and also didn't want to get wet from the waves/sea mist. Lame!
The ferry ride was only about 30 minutes, so we got to the island plenty early. We rented bikes for the day (again, thank you student discount!) and were on our way. The island is only about 25K the whole way around and has about 40 beaches. We rode a few K (mostly uphill) to one of the first beaches we came to and went for a quick swim. It wasn't too hot out, but the water was refreshing anyway. The water was SO crystal clear for a ways out and there were absolutely NO waves...perfectly calm.
Once we were done swimming, we rode to the general market and got some lunch. This is where I found out that my debit card was not going to work anymore. I don't know why yet. But it was rejected and I was stranded on this resort island with ten dollars. Lunch cost 14. I found something really cheap and ate that. I soon discovered the forgotten banana that I tossed into my bag before running out the door this morning and ate that too. Then we saw the animal for which the island is named!! It's reallly cute...it looks like a HUGE rat..its about the size of my cat Mikee...if you know how big he is. This thing (which I don't know how to spell) was just hanging out under the picnic bench that we were eating at...not at all phased by all the tourists staring and flashing camaras in its face. It was awesome.
We finished lunch and rode on. We came to a beach called City of York Beach. This is the prettiest beach I have ever been to. EVER. Blue/green waters, no waves, and boulders jutting out of the water everywhere. We all layed on the boulders for about 2 hours or so. There were little snails burrowed into the crevices. Neither Sebastion nor Bene knew what they were, so I had to explain to them their name and what they were.
Onward to the Lighthouse!! This was a few K away from where we were at the York Beach...and ALL UPHILL. By the time we were only a few hills away, I was walking. I didn't think I was going to make it. Soo many hills for soo many K!! Definitely a great workout...for someone who is in shape!! I will be way sore tomorrow for sure!! The lighthouse was pretty neat though. It's the highest point on the entire island, so we got a great view of tons of beaches. We couldn't see any of the shoppes, inns, or any other structures, though. After a 20-or-so minute rest on the benches, we resumed our journey. This time, the entire trip was downhill. Thank God because I don't think I would have made it if there were any hills!!
Once we got back from our ~15K ride over the island, we returned our bikes (which had to be in by 5pm). We had a little over an hour to kill, so we found a really neat outdoor beach bar and got some water (yes...water at the bar). We relaxed in the shade until it was time to board the ferry again.
The ferry ride back was realllllly great!!! Bene and I sat out on the deck again. There was a whole group of people on the other side of the deck from us and only 4 (including the two of us) on our side of the deck. About 2 minutes into the ride we decided that we made the right choice of seats. The way that the wind was blowing caused the waves to come barrelling over the side of the ferry, water pelting everyone full-blast on the opposite side of the deck. It was probably the funniest thing that happened in a LONG time!! After about 3 minutes of pelting water, everyone on that side was absolutely soaked as if they had jumped into the ocean themselves!! 2 of them actually got out their snorkles and masks!! SOO funny!! At least they were all really good sports about it and laughed the entire time...as did they dry ones (us)!! We barely even got misted!!
The ferry arrived in Fremantle and we RAN to catch the bus back to school. We had planned on taking the bus that was a half hour later than this bus, but that was when we thought that the ferry was going to take an hour instead of a half hour. We got to the bus and were taping on the door when he started pulling away. NOPE. Not gona happen. We ran after and eventually got on.
Once I got back to my room, I discovered that I was sunburned in just about every spot that i was not sunburned last time. Even after reapplying sunblock numerous times!! I am going to have some very interesting tan lines...that's for sure!! But hey, at least I have them!! Woo!! Even the flipflop tan line got burned...no more flipflop tan line!! Darn..
Well that is all for now!! I am beat from cycling/swimming/sunburning all day so I am going to bed relatively soon. Plus, classes begin tomorrow. The only one I have is Cell Bio from 3-4pm. I think I am going to go to campus a few hours early and figure out where my class is held and buy my text books and such. If I can even walk at that point...

Love,
me