Quokkas, Dolphins, and Daisy... ;(

Hi!

We've traveled quite a ways since Jan 25th! We drove south from Perth down to Fremantle and then hopped on a ferry to Rottnest Island!
A very beautiful little (about 11km long, and 4km at it's widest point) island with no TRAFFIC! A couple buses to transport tourists around the island, and lots of bikes!
The first day we spent snorkeling - not many fish to see and the water was colder than expected - but it was still very nice! We spend the night at an old army barracks that has been converted to a hostel...Images of being woken up at 5am to do push-ups kept running through my head!
The second day on the island we rented bikes (in the 110F heat!!!) But, hey, what a great way to see the island! On the island there are these little quokkas - they look like a mini kangaroo/rats, and are endemic to only Rottnest Island - they are very cute, and are active in when it is cool out - usually in the am/pm - and ALWAYS when you are eating!
From Rottnest back to Fremantle then headed north to Cervantes to see the Pinnacles in the desert - we got there before sunrise and it was absolutely gorgeous.
From Cervantes we headed to Monkey Mia...a gorgeous, HOT Water, haven where the dolphins come in to shore to interact with humans - I have been waiting to go to Monkey Mia for about 10 years when I heard about it from my sister-in-law Cathy (Thanks Cath!)
What a wonderful experience! Dolphins are much larger than you would think! and, I was lucky enough to be chosen by a ranger to feed one by hand (out of about 100 people!) They come in to shore at 6,8,10am and noon, from what we saw...:)
We then headed to a lovely place called Coral Bay - the ocean was much cooler than in Monkey Mia (yeah, refreshment!) and we booked ourselves for diving!!! YES, I made it!!! No ear problems (knock on wood!!!) We saw turtles, starfish, sea cucumbers, eels, shark, snails, lobster, rays, clownfish, angle fish, buffs (big-ugly-fish) and other stuff that we don't know the name of...
That same night (we really had an exciting 3rd of Feb!) We went out on 4 wheel ATV's - what FUN!!!) to see Green Turtles, and Loggerhead scurry from their nests on the beach and make a B-Line for the ocean!!! A once in a lifetime treat!!!
From there we headed to 80 mile beach (all beach and no water - the tide was out about 2 kms!) then up to Broome - where we are now...sadly contemplating putting our lovely Daisy to rest...on our way here yesterday, we blew a tire, and something is going on w/the engine (cylinder head, most likely)...if we can get a rebuilt cheapie to put in her, we will and be on our way to Darwin...if not (new ones cost about 2K) we will most likely cut our loses, and say goodbye to her)...
Broome is a small town and expensive to have cars worked on...
All for now, say a prayer for Daisy!!!
luv,
SG