We’re booked on the 9am ferry over to the island. We haven’t booked any tours or bikes. This ended up being a good thing as we had planned on getting bikes, but Justine has woken up with a pinched nerve or something in her shoulder and riding a bike is probably out.
The trip over is not too bad, it’s about a 30 minute trip, and it is a bit rough for maybe the last 10mins. Nothing like the Great Barrier Reef trip though.
It’s a nice sunny day and not too windy when we arrive. We go and buy some tickets for the hop on/hop off bus that circles the island and start walking up to the bus stop. It’s not too far before we see our first Quokka, (they are pretty damn cute). The ones down here must be pretty use to humans, and if are not actually fed, they probably get a lot of scraps.
We stay on the bus a few stops and then jump off at one of the bays. There are a bunch more Quokkas here. One tries to climb onto Liam as he had just started eating an apple. We take the apple away, but the quokka is still all over him. After a few minutes we gently move on.
The next stop is not too far up the road so we walk around the bay to catch the next bus at the next stop. There a heaps of people on bikes, but the bus is probably the next best way to see the place.
We get off the bus again near the central lighthouse. It’s a short walk up to the lighthouse. Queue more Quokka’s. Unbeknown to us, they run short tours every 30mins up to the top of the lighthouse. Liam had just been mentioning he’d like to climb up one, so we buy our tickets.
I’m on about step 5 of this tight iron spiral staircase, when I realise I’m not that keen on heights anymore. Justine doesn’t like spirals, so both of us are feeling a bit uncomfortable! We arrive at the 1st landing, only 4 more to goes the guide says. It’s only 39mtr to the top. Joy!
We make it to the 4th level then there is an even smaller staircase to just under the rotating light. Then the final fun, the guide opens the door and we walk out onto the external walkway. It’s actually not as bad as the spiral staircases. The view is great, but the wind from the south side is very strong. So much so that the guide suggests the next group up may not be able to go outside.
It’s seems taller on the inside 
Level 1 of 4 
What a bus stop
After the lighthouse, we went to catch another bus and do the rest of the loop back to Thompson bay. We had a yummy lunch at Dome, which for the location was pretty reasonably priced. After lunch we had a walk around town of Thompson, dare I say more Quokkas.
We loop around town, up to a smaller lighthouse, then walk down the beach, back to the boat. By this stage it’s overcast and the wind has picked up a bit. So the ferry back is a little more interesting, but everyone keeps their lunch down.
Later in the evening we’re all a bit off colour. Not sure if it’s from the ferry, lunch or those stairs!
Looking at the spiral staircase I think I would give it a miss, but the view looks like it was worth the pain. The Quokkas, they are just beautiful, wish I had been there. A great experience for the kids to remember.
….Quokkas are sooooo cute.
PK xx