Bickley Battery - Parade Ground

The Battery Office was located to the right of the Parade Ground by the current walking trail. Aside from a line of bricks or rocks, in which I forgot to photograph, there's no signs of the building's rubble.

At the rear of the parade ground, another line of rocks remains.

Bickley Battery - 1943 Tunnel Entrance

I wasn't convinced when I read that this was the site of a tunnel entrance back in 1943, especially with some 50 or so trenches and dugouts in the area which at times, resemble tunnels.

The first thing people will say when they hear about tunnels, not limited to any particular location, is that the sand or ground formations are likely too soft, too wet or too hard.

I've learnt to ignore all that after seeing tunnels built anywhere and everywhere in all sorts of geological formations, clay/silt and sand compositions.

Interestingly, a straight 136m line approximately 105 degrees east, ends at a very suspicious pile of rocks. From my experience, this certainly looks like a potentially filled-in entrance, particularly as the number of rocks and the sizes of them don't belong in this immediate area.

04 - Bickley Battery - Filled Tunnel Entrance

Filled-in Tunnel Entrance

The rock is definitely local to Rottnest and to be specific, Tamala eolianite sandstone.

There were many quarries on the island used to built structures long before the military took over for the pre-World War 2 sites (notwithstanding their involvement in World War 1 on the island and possible earlier postings).

But of course, the location of these rocks particularly ending at a straight line from the apparent 1943 tunnel entrance, the piled collection, as well as many other eyebrow-raising suspected elements to it all... it's not rock science.

Bickley Battery - Filled Tunnel Entrance

Bickley Battery: Cricket Pitch

I don't like cricket! I hate it... the flies on a hot summery day, the gusts of heated winds blowing in from the nearest desert wherever that may be if the island doesn't count, the sand specking your face like freckles, sunburnt lips crackling like the skin on a frying sausage and the lobster-look ready to eat...

Standing around the pitch, waiting for the ball to come your way... too hot to run but standing still is like playing Pang Adventures with all the flies that come your way.

Still... anything has got to be better than the hard labour a Battery Commander could be ordering you to do, his bark hopefully better than his bite, mirroring disciplinary threats. Plus... anything beats the threat and fear of a Japanese invasion or any enemy warfare.