What is Rottnest Island?
<!--infobox would be nice--> [[File:Rottnest Thomson Bay.jpg|thumb|Rottnest Island's main settlement]] '''Rottnest Island''' (also known as Rotto or just Rottnest) is 18 kilometres from the mainland of [[Western Australia]]. It is called Wadjemup by the Noongar tribe, which means ''land across the water''. Rottnest is a popular tourist attaction.<ref>[[w:Rottnest Island|English Wikipedia article]]</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.rottnestisland.com/about/rottnest-history |title=Rottnest History |access-date=2011-08-19 |archive-date=2012-01-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120108074102/http://www.rottnestisland.com/about/rottnest-history |url-status=dead }}</ref> ==History== [[Aboriginal]] people originally occupied Rottnest around 30,000 <!--not sure yet on exact figure, this however, is the one stated on wikipedia--> years ago.<ref>http://www.rottnestisland.com/about/rottnest-history/arboriginal-history{{Dead link|date=January 2021 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> The island was originally connected to the mainland, but it eventually became separated with the [[Indian Ocean]], and so it became an island. As Aboriginal people did not have boats, the island had no one living on it until the Europeans arrived. <!--date?--> Dutch sailor Willem de Vlamingh named the island ''Rattenest'', meaning ''Rat's nest''. The 'rats' he was referring to was actually a [[Quokka]], a native animal on the island. After the [[Swan River Colony]] was established in 1830, Robert Thomson settled on the island with his family. He made a living selling salt, which is naturally found on the island. Before refrigeration, salt was very important, as it kept food fresh.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.rottnestisland.com/about/rottnest-history/colonial-settlement |title=Colonial settlement |access-date=2011-08-19 |archive-date=2013-01-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130115194919/http://www.rottnestisland.com/about/rottnest-history/colonial-settlement |url-status=dead }}</ref> The island bec