We arrived at the free camps too early in the day, in the middle of nowhere so decided to push on and ended up at Exmouth a day earlier than our booking at the caravan park and with no Vodafone reception, again, we couldn't ring ahead. Exmouth has the holiday maker stuck in the fact that you are not allowed to free camp anywhere in the area and have to book into some accommodation. We were lucky to jag one of the last unpowered sites at Exmouth Cape Holiday Park, the park we were booked in from Tuesday.
Exmouth is situated on the North West Cape and was originally established as a support town for the Harold Holt Naval Communication Station, a joint Australian and USA venture in 1967. This facility houses the world's largest VLF( Very Low Frequency) Transmitter and is also the second tallest structure in the Southern Hemisphere. It is used to communicate with submarines all around the Southern Hemisphere. Exmouth would have been an interesting place in the late 60's through to 1992, when the USA withdrew, as the US had set up an all American town with US currency, flying the American flag, with its own Diners etc. Apparently the locals were very welcome but they had to change their money over to US dollars to purchase anything in the area.
Today the town relies on the tourism of the beautiful Ningaloo Reef for its survival. The world heritage listed reef is internationally recognised as one of Earth's last ocean paradises. The reef runs from Exmouth in the north to just above Carnarvon in the south. It is one of the largest fringing reefs in the world( reefs that hug the coastline) and can be accessed straight off the beaches. All the way down the coast the waves can be seen crashing just off the coast. This area is also famous for the presence of lots of marine life especially the whale shark, the world's biggest fish. It is a filter feeder and is harmless to humans. It is seen normally between March to early August. We decided to take a tour to snorkel the reef, with Ningaloobluedive, and MAYBE see a whale shark, however, we were not expecting to see any.
All geared up and ready for the snorkel
This was a good tour as they have a spotter plane that radios the activity in the water around the area. No whale sharks, however, after a lovely snorkel in crystal clear water through masses of coral we went in search of the Humpback Whale. 
The flipper wave, very dainty! The colour of the water was amazing.
The spotter plane had seen a lot of dolphins and whales interacting a long way out so the skipper decided to go in pursuit.
We ended up being over 13 kms off the coast which is a long way on the ocean and the water was over 400m deep. No dolphins but heaps and heaps of whales that were very inquisitive and came right up to the boat. Took heaps and heaps of pics and after many near misses
I was lucky, however, to capture the one below after an aching arm trying to hold the camera in place for ages.
Lots of bike riding around the town which looks like it is a town on the way up with new estates popping up with expensive modern homes and a great canal system like they have in The Gold Coast.
The Novotel Ningaloo Resort would be a good place for a getaway from the cold as you can fly into Exmouth as the drive is a long way from most places. A car is a must in Exmouth as most attractions are kms away. The caravan park was very accommodating and after our first night at the unpowered site we got a very good site close to all ammenities and did all our cooking at the very large and very well equipped camp kitchen that was frequented by many travellers from all over the world.
Off to Coral Bay tomorrow.
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