Since Nancy and Betty, our dinner companions, told us Exmouth was the end of the world, we were surprised to find that it was a little better than that.  They were coming off the tender to go on a tour when we were heading back to the ship for lunch and I greeted them with a "Welcome to the end of the world ladies!"  They got a good kick out of that.  The area around the Indian Ocean by Exmouth in the early 1900's was a commercial fishing port for mother of pearl until WWII when oil was discovered nearby and it was used for Allied military use.    Later in 1962 (good year) is was used as a satellite communication center manned by the US and Australian governments.

So the place had quite a bit of history and it was built up more than we expected but not by much.  My favorite gas station/convience store was called The Thirsty Camel.  Seems the rich folks from Perth are using this place as their winter homes.  Just a lot cost $359,000 down by the bay where the newest development is going on.  Real estate prices are always interesting and the whole of Australia seems to be quite high compared to the states but after talking with a man from Broome on the ferry the other day from Rottnest, i can see why they can afford these prices.  He told me that they are running out of workers for the mines so they pay them $150,000 a year, they work two weeks on and two weeks off and are provided their homes at the work site and get their travel paid back and forth to their permanent residence.  A couple of years of that and you could retire!

It was quite the process getting off the boat and in to town.  First a tender off our anchored ship, then waiting for a bus in the heat to be driven into town.  Although they did have a rather large tent with chairs and as always orange juice and water on tap while waiting.  We heard they had to hire out the buses for the transfers from over 600 km away.  It is pretty remote out in Exmouth but they did have internet at two different places, a Budget rental car location (Joe and Lee rented the last car and told us that the air conditioning was broken and the headlights were hanging on by duct tape, not to mention all the dents from the kangaroos, ha, ha)  and two IGA stores, one express and one regular, but only about 50 yards away from each other in the main shopping area of town.  The difference in prices between the two was sizable.  A half liter of Coke was $4.00 in the express store but only $2.49 at the regular store.  Guess where we tried to spend the last of our Australian dollars!  The little town had about 30 different shops.

After going back to the ship for some lunch and heat relief, we ventured back in to town.  The original plan was to rent a snorkel and mask and head out to the beach which is ringed with a coral reef all the way around Exmouth and the surrounding area but first we had to go get some pictures of the wild emus we saw early and possibly a kangaroo or two.  We got the directions to the beach and headed out through the streets to the back of a park and then off the beaten path.  We saw quite a bit of emu poop but no emus until we got back by the golf course, which was so barren, dry, and brown that you would never even entertain the thought of swing a club in that heat.  There were two emus and as they saw us across the field, they started walking slowly towards as we called them.  We had been warned to be very careful around them and that they move really fast when they want.  I put our bag of potato chips down on the ground to take a picture and they started coming closer.  Candice took over the camera job and I wanted to open up the bag of chips and feed them but Candice played the parent and wouldn't let me do it.  You know me, I'm the gambler, I wanted to try and feed them - not by hand - but on second thought I wouldn't want to be featured in the headlines of the local newspaper, if you know what I mean!

We finally crested the hills of the sand dunes and viola, the refreshing beach below.  It stretched for miles and it was all ours with the exception of one couple that arrived right before us.  After a swim and a snack, we decided not to walk back into town but to walk all the way back to the ship via the beach.  We stopped twice more for some refreshing dunks in the ocean and ended the day up down on the bay beach close to the pier.  Along the way a couple of dogs came and frolicked in the water and we got the occasion 4x4 driving along the beach.  I found the spine of a large shell with a round flat paddle on the end that was pretty neat and it fit my hand perfectly like a spoon.  So I decided to keep it as a souvenir. 

Towards the end of the day it cooled off somewhat but it was a dry heat and not a sweltering one like Arkansas.  So all in all the end of the world wasn't half bad - at least for a day!

Final Notes:  

Seems the American vs. British laundry story has gone viral on the ship.  Rumor has it that the British man and his wife kept up their antics and were kicked off the ship!

I think we've got a three bagger going on here - rogue waves, earthquakes and now the pirates are at it again.  Oh, did I mention the turmoil in Greece?  Things are gonna get dodgy!   Alex, the jewelry store manager, told us that he was on a ship about two thirds our size and the captain had to pull a maneuver to outrun some pirates.  He tipped the ship violently to one side and when it came back down the wake knocked them out on the opposite side.  Our table decided we would like some excitement and maybe Cunard can just 'stage' something for us! 

Sandy