2025-2026 Perth Study Tour: Day 5

Day 5 - Meeting Black Swans and Quokkas

On Sunday, everyone was happy for another sleep-in and lazy breakfast because a big day was ahead. Today was the day we were going to visit the Quokkas on Rottnest Island. 

We boarded our big bus and set off for Fremantle. It is a smaller city south of 25 minutes south of Perth, located east of Rottnest Island on the Australian mainland. It’s nickname is Freo. 

Our plan was to take a ferry to Rottnest Island, which we learnt meant “Rat Nest Island” because early European explorers thought Quokkas were giant rats! 

Before we got to Fremantle we were discussing Black Swans on the bus. They are the state symbol for Western Australia and their picture can be seen everywhere. Black Swans are special because when they were discovered in WA they were believed to not exist in the world. In fact, in Western culture, a "black swan" was a metaphor for something impossible or non-existent. Later, the river that Perth was built around was called the Swan River. 

As we drove along, students spotted some black swans swimming happily in the Swan River. We quickly stopped the bus and decided to get out. This was a great decision! There were many Black Swans and they were happy to swim around in front of us and even come out of the water to come and look at us! They posed for many photos with us and welcomed us to Western Australia in style! They were so graceful and calm. This all happened under a lovely huge tree that was so big its leaves stretched over the water offering a shady retreat for the swans. 

While we waited for our ferry to arrive, we explored Fremantle Markets, which was a marketplace located inside a building with many different little stalls such as antiques, cafes, retro shops, costume shops and many souvenir stores. After that we played games and made short video interviews outside in the shade. 

Once we got on our ferry we enjoyed a calm but speedy trip on the express ferry. We spent our time talking to each other as well as friendly locals and fellow tourists. We looked outside the windows of the ferry and saw the amazingly clear waters of Western Australia. They truly were blue and turquoise! No filter or special effects, just nature! We were amazed!

We arrived at Thomson Bay on Rottnest Island hungry and looking for some food. We ate Subway sandwiches. They were a generous size and were one-foot long. 

We didn’t realise that the Quokkas would be out to meet us so soon. They joined us for lunch. They scurried under our feet and tables. But actually they were always calm. We all took many, many photos and videos of these cute little cousins of kangaroos. They really were friendly. We learnt from the Tour Guide, Mal that all the predators on the island had been removed so the quokkas had good reason to be happy. They were safe!

After that we got on the hop-on-hop-off bus after getting a special wristband. This allowed us to easily travel all around the island in a clockwise direction. We stopped at a beautiful beach and enjoyed experiencing this Aussie tradition. We played with the coming and going waves. Marvelled at the clean sand. Watched people swim, snorkel and sunbake. 

Everyone on the island were enjoying their time cycling around or using scooters. What a relaxing time. 

Best of all, the weather defied all bad luck and was perfect. We enjoyed lovely cool winds to take the edge off the sun. We were very lucky! It was our lucky day. 

Later, we made another stop to enjoy the amazing views near Eagle Bay. Many of us saw dolphins playing and jumping out of the water. We looked for fur seals and found some on a distant rocky island. We used binoculars to get a closer look. 

Finally, we got back to the place we started at, Thomson Bay. Before we got on our ferry, we stopped at another souvenir shop and added many quokka plushies to our tour group. 

After that, we returned to the Australian mainland and walked to our restaurant in Fremantle called Cicerello's. We ate pasta and prawn. It was superb. Some of us got some ice-cream afterwards but to the credit of our students they didn’t all want it. They were discerning with their money and appetites. 

We ended the night with our Group debriefing sessions back at the hotel. We shared funny stories. Filled in our booklets and uploaded pictures and videos to padlet. 

Tomorrow will be our last and longest day in Australia. Tonight is the last sleep in our hotel because we will be travelling home to beautiful Hong Kong tomorrow night. We miss our families and can’t wait to tell them all about our Aussie adventures! We are thankful for our families supporting us to go to Oz.