The best laid plans often go awry. I had planned to spend the day doing nothing, just lounging about as I was not going to go to shore. I have been dealing with some depression due to the never ending pain in my left knee and leg, and my inability to do what I want to do. I am feeling unappreciated by administration on the ship. I am frustrated that I am told one thing, and then someone else tells me something different. I feel like “the help.”
The past week has been crazy with “Code Alphas.” That means a medical emergency. At least two more people were taken off the ship this week. One in Bunbury and yesterday, while at sea, a rescue boat came alongside and took another one off. This caused us to arrive late today.
Michael got ready early this morning because he was scheduled to escort an excursion. Me on the other hand, was being lazy after a fitful night. The phone rang and it was the Excursions Office calling and asking me at the last minute to escort an excursion I had requested but didn’t get, and that I needed to be at the loading area in 15 minutes. I said no way could I get ready. Then Michael came back into the room and convinced me to go. So I called back and said I would go. It is amazing how fast one can get ready when all you need to do is get dressed and brush your teeth. No make-up, and I did comb my hair. I forgot my watch.
This is our last stop in Australia, and it was promising to be hot and a bit humid. Again, here was this little Podunk town with a grand breakwater and new marina. It was very impressive. My group of 13 boarded a mini bus that had seen better days. At least the air conditioning worked! There is not much here. They are developing it as a winter resort, with lots of new vacation homes on canals that have a dock. Inland, there are more resorts and “caravan” (RV) parks.
Exmouth played an important role during World War II. The Americans built a submarine base here. The base is still here, but is now run by the Australians. There are VLF (very low frequency) towers used for communications with submarines. At its peak, there were a thousand Americans working here. Today, the gas and oil industry, and mineral mining are the life blood of the economy. The population of the area is only 2,500 people, but can swell to double that in season.
The landscape and sky is what I noticed. This particular part of Australia is the northwestern most point of the continent. The land was flat and covered with reddish brown gravel. Very short scrub brush grew here. There is nothing to see for miles and miles. The sky is brilliant blue, with nothing to mar its beauty. We spent one hour driving up and back on a rocky dirt road into the hills to a viewpoint. It looked like a mini Grand Canyon (well, very mini anyways). There are lots of caves in the limestone hills.
I noticed that the windshield wipers on the bus hadn’t been used in a long time. How do I know this? The rubber was hanging off the blade in tatters! It doesn’t get much rain here. We drove back down the hill (which they call a mountain) and on the way to town, we spotted these emus just strolling across the road. We then took a tour of the town, which lasted all of about five minutes. They were doing a lot of construction and a great deal of the town looked relatively new. The commentary from our guide was quite extensive and very animated. Unfortunately, I could barely make out anything he said due to a heavy Aussie accent and a noisy bus.
The beaches along the Ningaloo coast are where sea turtles come to nest. We drove to the Jurabi turtle center and spent a few moments there reading the display panels. We then drove to the beach to see if there were any turtle babies heading out to sea. No, not today. They usually head for the sea early in the morning or in the evening. I did see one nest. We had about 30 minutes here and this was where we could go swimming. I was one of the first ones in the water. There was a sandy bottom and a few drop offs, but I got far enough out that I could bob about in the water without getting clobbered by a wave. It was delicious and I could have bobbed around for a lot longer than 10 minutes, but that was all we had. Bobbing around in the Indian Ocean was so delightful, but sitting in a wet suit with sand, not so much.
We then drove up to the lighthouse, and again saw another vista. This is where I finally got a wild kangaroo sighting! Too bad I was on the wrong side of the bus to take a picture.
As we drove back to the pier, we could see many termite hills that looked like statues. This area is known for these nests, and they can be up to ten feet high.
I was ready to go back to the ship at this point. I was hot and tired, and I was looking forward to jumping in the pool to cool off. I dropped my backpack off, and made a beeline for the pool. I got in the water and wouldn’t you know it, the water was hot. I could not cool off, so I got in the shower and just let the cool water run until I felt the cooling effect take place.
I went back to my room because it was too hot to stay out on the pool deck/grill and have some lunch, and I couldn't go to the Colonnade because I was dripping wet. I ordered a grilled cheese sandwich from room service. I told them use only two slices of bread, not three, and leave the crust on. They did that, but forgot to put more than a brief taste of cheese on it. Preparing American comfort food is a mystery to them.
MICHAEL
Not too much to add here. I escorted an excursion on a glass bottom boat to the Ningaloo reef. It took about half an hour to get to the boat, and we passed most of the things Beverly has already written about. Our boat was named Titanic; not such a good start. And, our captain was a hippie, surfer dude who basically wanted to be done with the cruise so he could go surfing. We saw a lot of beautiful, living coral and a few fish. To be fair this really is not the best season to take this trip, but such is life. The Ningaloo reef is the largest “fringe” reef in the world, measuring some 150 miles in length. Fringe means it is right off the coast (a mile or less) while other, more famous reefs like the Great Barrier Reef, are as much as fifty miles off shore.
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