Exmouth was first used as a US military base during WW2 and became a cold war submarine base during the 1950s. The Very Low Frequency antenna array - 13 very tall antenna just north of Exmouth - was until recently the tallest man-made structure in the southern hemisphere and the base is named after 1950's prime minister Harold Holt who went missing off Portsea backbeach. It is only slightly ironic that a submarine communication station is named after him when some conspiracy theorists claim a Russian sub kidnapped him when out for a swim! When completely under US authority, apparently employees used US dollars, drove on the right hand side, had a baseball diamond etc and if you wanted to visit, you had to change your money over before going in. Nowadays it is run by the Federal Police and various local employees, but is still a US base.

Exmouth's biggest draw card these days is Australia's largest fringing coral reef Ningaloo and it's huge variety of sea life, diving and snorkelling, with the amazing gentle giants, whale sharks being the biggest money earner I imagine. In fact, nearly every business we passed - plumbers, tour buses, the odd taxi - had a picture of a whale shark just to remind people to get out into the water and see these guys. There is a big coral spawn shortly after the full moon in March, and tonnes of small creatures like crustaceans and small fish head in to feed, followed by a myriad of fish, dugongs, sharks, rays, whale sharks and whales - not to mention the huge variety of life living on Ningaloo itself. It's an underwater lovers' dream, and the reason we'd travelled so far.

Our first couple of days were spent driving into the World Heritage listed Ningaloo National Park, visiting special places like Yardie Creek, Turquoise Bay (a few stops here - great snorkelling for our amateur kids), and the Oyster Stacks. Paul had booked a dive on Exmouth's Navy Pier - supposedly one of Australia's best shore dives - but it was cancelled twice due to poor visibility so I didn't bother booking myself in.

Instead we counted up a considerable amount of money, and booked ourselves onto Ningaloo Whaleshark-n-dive for a family day out on the water meeting some of the biggest fish in the sea. On our way out, our captain spotted a big 'bait ball' of schooling fish, being fed on by at least 4 different types of shark, some quite large (!) as well as tuna and snapper - just an incredible site. The photographer on board got some great underwater shots and vids just as a whale shark moved through everyone and got some of the action. Our boat then thankfully moved well away from the larger sharks and prepared for our whaleshark encounter. The crew were incredibly patient with the kids, especially Harriet who's never swum in deep ocean water before, and decked them out in vests, wetsuits and noodles, then took them under their wing while Paul and I could check out the scenery for ourselves. The spotter on the boat gave us the "Go! Go! Go!" signal for us to jump off the boat and wait for the whale shark to swim by. The first 3 times, the b***** changed direction and it was back into the boat we went, but on the lucky 4th time, one came straight towards us, before changing direction and allowing us to swim alongside for as long as we could keep up. This went on for most of the morning - we'd get out of the water and await the spotter's call - and then jumped in. The girls gave it a great shot, especially Matilda who jumped in at least 6 imes before getting cold and calling it quits, and Harri was in 3 times herself. Being the biggest fish in the sea, it was very comforting to know that whalesharks only eat fish and crustaceans smaller than my little finger, so it was only awe we felt watching them swim past rather than fear. Thankfully, none of the other sharks were seen while we were under water. Up we went onto the big boat for a magnificent feast, and then an afternoon snorkel on the reef (saw a dugong, heaps of parrot fish and a sea snake) before heading back to Tantabiddy Port.

The only bummer of our whole trip to Exmouth has been our credit card. Thankfully we checked the balance to see if we could afford the whaleshark experience and noted a very large amount for an airline in Latvia (!!!!) being withdrawn, so a quick call to the bank and credit cards cancelled. As I write, we are still awaiting replacements, so it may be the courier will have to chase us south. Thank heavens for the debit card I hardly ever use!l Having to stay an extra day wasn't a real hardship, even though the weather finally turned and the drizzle and wind came in. We took in the sight of the Mildura wreck, a cattle boat sunk on the reef in 1907, and happened to see around 4-5 large turtles feeding on the seagrass in the shallows. We also drove up to the Vlamingh Head Lighthouse to get a great view of the whole reef, before heading back to camp, and treated ourselves with a dinner out at Pinnochio's Italian restaurant. Think I'll need to come back to Exmouth one day.