Just off the coast of Western Australia is Rottnest Island, where bicycles and wind power reign supreme and relaxing is the name of the game. Allison Rudd took a day trip.
A couple of weeks after I returned from Rottnest Island, I read something shocking: Texan diver George Thomas Wainwright had been killed by a great white shark while diving off its coast.
It was difficult to connect "my" Rottnest with such a sudden and violent death, even more so when I read that Mr Wainwright had been diving in Little Armstrong Bay, literally a stone's throw from a bay I had visited.
My Rottnest was a benign and welcoming place of spectacular beaches, leisurely walks, pleasant cafes and bars and appealing wildlife (more about the wildlife later).
At sea, Mr Wainwright had, unfortunately, entered the shark's territory. On land, the biggest dangers were exposing bare feet to shells and rocks and bare faces to sunburn. Oh - and avoiding a very persistent peacock that seemed intent on stalking people and unexpectedly pecking at their ankles.
Rottnest has been a popular day trip and holiday destination for about a century.
Its history before that is sadder. In 1839, a prison for Aboriginal men was established and about 3700 were imprisoned over the next 90 years. Many sickened and died far from their homes and families.
A boys' reformatory operated for about 20 years and closed in 1901. The island was later an internment camp for German and Austrian "enemy aliens" in World War 1 and for Italian undesirables in WW2.
Displays and photographs in the tiny museum are a poignant reminder of those times.
Many of Rottnest's facilities date back to the mid-19th century. The remaining prison buildings and stables have become a small shopping complex with central courtyard area.
Two cottages have become the museum and a photographic exhibition space. The substantial holiday home built for the Western Australia governor of the 1860s has recently been redeveloped into a luxury hotel.
There are charter flights to "Rotto" - as the locals call it - but most people go by ferry, a 30-minute trip across a fairly rough piece of ocean from Fremantle.
The ferries also go from Central Perth, which is where my trip began. The 30km trip down the magnificent Swan River, restricted to 8 knots almost all the way, provides an excellent chance to inspect the huge riverside mansions and estates - one with three villas on it had just sold for $A53 million, we were told - and the fleets of expensive yachts and motor launches moored at the many yacht clubs.
At Rottnest, the ferries berth at the massive Thomson Bay wharf. A couple of minutes' walk away is the island's heart - the restaurants, where you can spend anything from $20 for calamari and chips to $120 for a gourmet seafood platter; the bars, shops and takeaway outlets with their extensive shaded outdoor seating areas; and the bicycle-hire shop.
Bicycles are big on Rottnest, for apart from buses and service vehicles, there are no cars on the island at all. Almost everyone gets around by hiring a bicycle or bringing one with them. Those who don't cycle walk.
The silence is a novelty after the constant drone of traffic in congested central Perth. As we walked the three or so kilometres from Thomson Bay to Geordie Bay, we could hear the surf, the birds, the wind rustling on the scrub-covered slopes, the "ting-a-ling" of bicycle bells and the snippets of conversation as cyclists passed us. We could also hear the rhythmic "wop wop" as the blades on the island's lone wind turbine turned lazily.
But vehicles have their uses.
By the time we had meandered across two beaches and along narrow walking paths and roads to Geordie Bay, we were hot and tired. The sight of the island's free shuttle bus on one of its continual circuits arriving to take us back to Thomson Bay was welcome indeed.
Rottnest is home to a tiny and endearing marsupial, the quokka. They are about the same size as the water rats that used to frequent the Waihopai River in Invercargill and scare the daylights out of me when I lived in the city, so it is understandable that Dutch explorers in the late 1690s mistook quokkas for rats and gave the island its name.
Prominent signs tell modern-day visitors not to touch or feed the quokkas, but quokkas obviously can't read.
We had no sooner sat down outside the Geordie Bay store with our cool drinks when two quokkas loped over to us searching for scraps. One poked its nose right into my bag, which was lying on the ground, while I retrieved a discarded lolly wrapper from the other's mouth before he/she choked on it.
When I decided to video one, it hopped right over to me and began sniffing my hand and my camera. Of course, my only option was ignore the signs and gently push it away. Its fur was long and soft, rather like a cat's.
Several children arrived on bicycles and took over my quokka-protection and -admiration duties. The animals showed no fear, only curiosity.
For the day trippers, the ferries back to the mainland begin to leave from about 4pm.
Be warned - if your ticket says your ferry will leave at 4pm, it will. We had to run and leap aboard a rapidly retracting gangplank to make ours.
For those who want to stay longer - and who wouldn't? - the rental cottages have private courtyards, supplied barbecues and beach views. There are also other accommodation options ranging from backpackers' rooms to the luxury hotel.
Over the summer months and during school holidays, accommodation is so sought-after the island authority ballots it. But for my money, Rottnest in the middle of a business week in the middle of winter would be quite all right too.
Rottnest Island
Location: 19km off Fremantle, Western Australia.
Size: 19sq km.
Highest point: 46m above sea level.
Population: 300, rising to more than 3000 a day during peak summer periods.
Accommodation: 308 rental cottages; also hotel and backpackers' rooms.
Facilities: Two general stores, two clothing and souvenir shops, several restaurants and bars, museum, two churches, airstrip, nine-hole golf course.
Things to do: Snorkel, dive, surf, swim, fish, walk, cycle, golf, take a guided or self-guided heritage tour, take a whale-watch tour during the winter/spring months, sunbathe, relax.
How to get there: By ferry from Perth, Fremantle or Hillarys Boat Harbour (northern Perth); by air, or by private boat.
