...there's nothing like an ellipsis to create suspense, huh?
That, and a day off .
Good guess, Todd, but really I was just trying to heighten the tension. In actuality, our situation in the morning, waking on the top of Eagle Bluff was...
...damp.
The forecast was dry, so an astute observer would have noted that our tent did not have the rain fly on it. It didn't rain, nor did it gust or anything. Instead, there was perhaps a world record-setting dew, which dripped and dropped in the tent all night long, leaving us with a cup or more of fresh water, and our sleeping bags, well...
...damp.

That didn't stop us from enjoying the sunrise, waving goodbye to the jumping fish, and setting out for Monkey Mia. This resort has made a name for itself by having wild dolphins who, in addition to hunting, get something like 20% of their diet from people on the beach feeding them, so show up quite regularly. Like, three-times-a-day regularly.
I was set up for disappointment. I was ready for a half-assed SeaWorld type show, which would never be quite as professional as what I hoped for. Maybe that was why I was pleasantly surprised by the intimate gathering of 15-20 tourists at the water's edge as the dolphins came in for their feed and we were knee-deep with 4 adult females and numerous smaller young for 20-30 minutes of sincere discussion of feeding and breeding of dolphins in Shark Bay.

It was very pleasant, and capped by some pelican antics as they played in the sprinkler, which made my morning.


Very efficeint, too, as we were off to Eagle Bluff to spot some manta rays from on top of a cliff, shell beach (a 3 mile-long beach made up of shells...and only shells, some 30 feet deep and so compact in places that they cut it up for bricks),

and then on to the (drum roll)
STROMATALITES!
Excuse me for shouting, but this is something that I find pretty cool, but have to make a big deal out of, since they don't make a big deal out of themselves. We are talking about an accumulation of organisms that first changed the earth from hostile environment, incapable of nurturing an organism anywhere as complex as an amoeba, to an oxygen-rich environment capable of sustaining quite remarkable forms of life, like Sidney Crosby or David Attenborough.
This is it. These are what those very first organisms were, 1.9 billion years ago (or 693,500,000,000 days), and without whom we may all be breathing methane and complaining of global cooling.

True, they are uninspiring in aspect. Kris calls them "Blob Rocks" and is something of an expert herself, as she has been dragged to 3 of the 5 sites where they are currently active in W.A. Of course, "active" stromatalites is something of a misnomer. Kind of like an "active" legistlator -- mostly just taking in food and eliminating waste products. In the case of the stromatalites, though, they take in sunlight and eliminate oxygen, unlike our senators who take in all sorts of perks and eliminate, well, crap.
I think they're cool, anyway.
It was all downhill from there.
A long drive to Exmouth, where we arrived at about 7:30, when all but 2 places that offer accomodation were closed. Pause for effect. In a town that lives on tourism, only 2 hotel reception desks were still open at 7:30pm. And we chose the one that offered us a choice of monastic brick cells, an overpriced restaurant, and at least 5 cockroaches. I don't know how many we didn't spot, which is what kept me up at night.
Exmouth has got to get better...right?

Tomorrow: Exmouth, snorkelling, and the search for a roach-free motel