on the 13th of march, the two Muir classes went to rottenest island. we left school at 7:20 to arrive to the docking jetty at 7:45 and left on the fiery at 7:55. we finally arrive at rottenest at 8:30 and walked 15 minutes to our snorkeling sight. we then got into our two classes and started our rotation. my class went first and explored the reefs and other fascinating marine life in the water, after we did that we got out of the water to go switch with the other class. we did this two other time and in those two times we duck dived through a cave and explored further out into the ocean. we then finished and started to walk our way back to the jetty, leaving rottenest at 2:00pm and arriving back in Perth at 2:30. the overall experience was very good and was not stressful or rushed. one goal my partner and i had was to explore as much water as we could and try our hardest to fight the coldness of the water.
my preparation for the rottenest trip was not the best as i forgot my hat and rashy, which resulted in me getting burnt and not being able to go out into the sun. my personal goal for safety was to not get hurt or cut by the reef, which was achieved as i was careful while swimming and did not kick too hard. in the duration of the trip i did not litter and when i did see litter i picked it up and placed it into the bin. my main personal goal was to duck dive down into the cave, however i did not achieve my goal.
some plants that i saw were trees, reefs, corals, bushes, grass,seaweed and algae. the reefs were very sharp due to the rocks underneath them however the were very small and brown. the coral which was in the deeper part of the reefs were a lot taller and got pushed around by the waves more, the color was brownish green. outside the water, the trees were tall and very green and leafy which made the atmosphere very welcoming and calm.
the main animal that i saw was the quoka, the quoka was very small and had a light brown tint to it. the main part of the day the quoka’s ate grass in the shade and never came near people to interact with them. another animal i saw was a lizard, it was very blackish greenish and was on a rock in the sunlight, the scales were very prominent and it was eating a banana.
coggee-
coggee was a very welcoming area, with shelter from the sun near the stairs and a patch of grass and trees. two positive thing about coggee was how clear and clean the water was, it made snorkeling very easy and made it feel nice to be swimming. another positive thin was the shipwreck and how beautiful and full of marine life was, it made every excursion to coggee different and more exciting. overall the excursions to coggee were really good and there were no negatives.
overall i have learnt that i need to be more organised with what i bring to an excursion next time, and make sure that i have the proper food and nutrition for the day. if i were too have another excursion to rottenest i would ensure that i push myself and try to duck dive and explore closer to the bottom of the ocean without getting scared. this experience has showed me how fun snorkeling can be and that i want to continue to snorkel in my free time, another thing it shows is that sunscreen and protection from the sun is vital for a day out on the beach. overall, this trip to rottenest was very great and i would really enjoy to do it again next year.