About 8:30 am (local) Jason went to meet Steve who had driven our new rental car out from Broome to Halls Creek. We were on our way to Broome and Steve needed to get back too so we gave him a lift.
The sun set about 1/2 hour before we got to Broome. After dropping Steve at his house, we headed for Cable Beach. There was a traffic jam of people heading the other way. We headed in and grabbed a recently vacated parking spot and walked over the 10 m of grass to overlook the beach. As soon as I saw the ocean with the remnants of a glorious sunset, I knew the 8 hour drive through and unvarying woodland was worth it. (Jason says it was NOT a forest, because sunlight could reach the ground between the trees. Having been raised on the Oxnard plain, it looked like a forest to me.)
When it started getting dark (~6pm), we headed to the nearby "Sand Bar & Grill." They said they were open until 9, which was good because we first needed to find a room, considering that we are visiting a total tourirst trap a peak season.
We went to the Ocean Lodge first. They just laughed when we asked for a room and said they were full. We next looked for the Broomtime lodge, but couldn't find it. We figured it must have gone out of business. When the Tropicana said they had rooms we gladly paid the $125/night.
Back at the Sand Bar & Grill, we learned that it was another go-up-and-order place. Doesn't Australia have waiters? Or is it just the Outback that lacks them? When we got back to our table (we had gotten menus & drinks there) another couple had taken our seats. Jason scared them off and we sat down again. I had ordered a burger -- without beetroot, a common burger/sandwich addition. Ugh. I'd tried it before, so this one time, I felt justified ordering it more American. Wow, it was really good after all that roadhouse food we'd been having. Jason said his steak was just okay.
That was pretty much it for today. I forgot to mention that when we first saw the ocean we walked down a long flight of stairs and then ~300m along a really smooth shallow slope to the water's edge. Because the beach is so shallow a slope, at high tide the ocean comes way in, and we could tell that happens not irregularly because a lot of the way to the ocean's edge the sand was firm and damp.