After my encounter with reef sharks and rays in Coral Bay, and standing in the sea with Snapper swimming around my feet, I was confident that I was on the way to cracking my phobia of fish. I therefore bought myself a snorkel mask and flippers in Exmouth and looked forward to spending several days snorkelling on Ningaloo Reef in the Cape Range National Park.

We got a list of all the Department of Conservation campsites in the park and had strict instructions from the information centre that to be in with a chance of getting a site we'd need to get to the entrance early. The next day we got up by 6am and were disappointed to find that we were only 10th in the queue on our arrival at 7:15am. We were given the choice of only two locations and with Ned's Camp being second on our priority list we opted for that one.

All the camps are right beside the beach and ours was rather picturesque, nestled in the sand dunes. A short drive away was Turquoise Bay which has the best snorkelling in the park. The sea was crystal clear and a beautiful colour like the name suggests.

The only time I'd ever snorkelled before was in the Whitsunday Islands on the east coast but that was without flippers. I expected my legs just to know what to do with the flippers like they do for skiing and other sporting activities. However, on my first attempt I waggled my legs around and was frustrated not to find myself being propelled through the water like everyone else. After a few more unsuccessful shots I tried a different style by sticking my face in the water and putting my arms alongside my body. Hooray I thought! This seemed to work and I found myself moving along.

That was until I spotted a group of three or four ugly grey fish with horrible fins. I leapt out the water as quick as possible and sat on the beach feeling very disappointed. I would have been fine if I'd have seen the brightly coloured tropical fish, but grey ones are just awful and made me panic. Richard couldn't understand what difference colour makes and I don't really know either; I just know I feel more comfortable in the sea with nice-looking colourful fish. I only had to swim about 20 meters to reach the pretty ones, but after many attempts that afternoon and again the following day I just couldn't mentally do it.

Richard tried helping me sort my head out by planting in my mind the idea that the grey fish are just the same as coloured ones but without their pyjamas on. It may have worked aged 8, but at 33 it was a bit of a stretch!

On the third day I decided that a different patch of water to look at might help so we went round the sand bank in Turquoise Bay to a section that has a strong current. The idea is that you start at one end and let yourself drift along over the coral for about 200 meters before swimming back to land.

Everyone on the beach was talking about the wonderful things they'd seen under the water and I knew I'd really enjoy it once I was in there so I took the plunge. It was fantastic! I saw lovely yellow and white striped Banner fish, multicoloured Parrot fish and lots of different types of coral. The water was cold so I didn't stay in too long, but I managed another turn that day and several the following. I spotted a stingray in the sand, lots of black sea cucumbers, black and white striped Humbug Dascylluss, and swam in amongst a shoal of hundreds of tiny blue fish.

I've still not cured my phobia but I'm pleased I managed to overcome it enough to see the reef and all that lives in it.

On land in Cape Range National Park we also discovered an abundance of wildlife. Just driving along the road we saw red kangaroos seeking shade under bushes and emus wandering around - we even saw a baby emu with fluffy fur, I failed to take a photo though as it had the speed of Linford Christie. During one of the walks along a gorge we found several goats munching grass high up on a tiny ledge and in the evening at our camp site kangaroos would be just feet away.

The best place however to see the animal life in the park was at the water tap. The tap isn't widely advertised and the water from it isn't drinkable - only suitable for washing in. It was located up a small track not far from Ned's camp. On our first time there were four emus drinking from puddles around the tap with a couple of cockatoos trying to get a look in. Hiding in a bush close by was a kangaroo and he eventually came out for his turn. We returned each evening to fill up our solar shower and wait around watching the animals. It's the best place to go to see them on tap!

You can buy bottled drinking water at the visitors centre in the park along with ice creams, pies and snacks at reasonable prices - even cheaper then the rip off IGA stores in Exmouth. You can also hire snorkels and flippers for the day. For some reason none of this stuff is advertised at the visitors centre in Exmouth, instead they promote the need to be self sufficient which is a bit of a nonsense.

Each of the campsites in the park is run by volunteer camp hosts and it's part of their job to take your camp fees and keep the long drop toilets clean. Even though Ned's camp was originally our second choice we couldn't have got a better spot. Our camp hosts had been volunteers at Ned's for 20 years. They kept the facilities very clean and fragrant, offered a book exchange and held happy hours at 5:30pm every night. We missed the first two happy hours as we were busy taking endless photos and videos of the kangaroos, but managed the last two. Everyone gathers round the long communal table with their alcoholic beverages to have a natter. Most of the other campers were Australian and had excellent set ups with solar panels and gas used to power fridges, freezers, TVs and satellite dishes. One of them took pity on us and provided ice cubes to enhance our Bundaberg Rum and Coke.

We also found out that it's easy to move from camp to camp once you already have a place because the internal transfers are done before new guests are admitted. So if you want to stay several nights but don't get a suitable camp, it works out better just to take any available spot and move the next day. As we were very happy at Ned's we stayed for the duration.

Camping in the sand dunes and listening to the waves crashing over the outer Ningaloo Reef sounds very romantic but unfortunately it's not very practical, especially when combined with strong winds. Our tent was swaying and bending all over the place on our first night and every so often we'd wake up to a blast of sand in our face as somehow the fly sheet was scooping it up and catapulting it through the mesh.

As we packed up the tent on our last morning the elastic broke in one of the tent poles but that's not put us off the place and we may well go back in a couple of days after we've had a proper shower and washed the sand, salt and suntan lotion off our bodies.

Katy