If picturesque coastlines, wildlife encounters and relaxing bike rides are your kind of adventure, put a cycling tour of Rottnest Island high on your bucket list.
Just a 25-minute ferry ride from Fremantle in Perth, Rottnest Island is home to more than 60 beaches and “the world’s happiest critter”: the quokka.
One of the most popular ways to explore the island is by bicycle. Ms Laura Holmes, 34, founder of tour company Laura the Explorer Bike Tours, conducts a 10km guided bike tour on Rottnest Island for groups of up to 20 participants almost daily.
Highlights of the tour include stops at Parker Point and Little Salmon Bay – snorkelling spots teeming with marine life – and iconic coastal sites like Parakeet Bay and local favourite Pinky Beach.
“Exploring the island on a bicycle lets you take in its beauty at a slower pace. Imagine seeing the sunlight hit the crystal-clear waters when you come up on every hill. It’s paradise,” says Ms Holmes, who grew up in Perth.
The seven-hour guided tour – during which participants typically cycle leisurely for up to four hours, with breaks and stops along the way – costs A$250 (S$210) an adult and A$200 for youth aged 12 to 16. For a more conducive experience, the tour is restricted to participants aged 12 and above.
It includes return ferry tickets from Perth, bike hire, an hour-long snorkelling session with equipment provided, lunch and a small surprise memento at the end of the day.
Quokka sightings are common, especially around the island’s main settlement in Thomson Bay. While petting or handling the ever-grinning marsupials is prohibited, tourists are free to take photographs with them.
Travellers can also tour the island on foot or via a ticketed shuttle bus, and book overnight stays at lodges, campsites and cottages on the island.
Some of the best night-time activities on Rottnest Island include sunset fishing, stargazing and quokka-spotting, as the nocturnal animals are more active after sundown. Bike tours and nature activities are available year-round.
For an equally enchanting night-time experience, visit Uluru – in the southernmost region of the Northern Territory – where British artist Bruce Munro’s Field Of Light installation has been refurbished and will run for an extended period till April 2027.
Opened in April 2016, the installation features 50,000 solar-powered spindles of light that glow in hues of ochre, violet, blue and white, and stretch across 49,000 sq m of land – around the size of four football fields.
A general admission pass costs A$49.50 an adult and A$38 for children aged two to 15. It includes a 90-minute tour, which departs 30 minutes after sunset, and return coach transfer from pickup points in the nearby township of Yulara.
Domestic flights in Australia land at Ayers Rock Airport, which is around a 20-minute drive from Yulara. Travellers can also fly to Alice Springs Airport and make a road trip of the six-hour drive to Uluru.
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