The QB picked up anchor, started engines and moved to another part of Santiago at 3.00 am and I am loving hearing the sound of the water splashing past as we move along at a sedate pace (about 20 knots). Like any boat of this size there are always noises such as the constant generators and when we move, the engines, which are easy to get used to and they certainly do not disturb my sleep. Also, as my room is next to the kitchen, before meal times (which is nearly always as we seem to eat all the time we are not asleep or doing a planned activity) I can often hear kitchen sounds and the crew talking - but as they are Spanish speakers I am not across their secrets!

We had a quick breakfast at 7am and then were into the zodiacs at 7,30 to head to Espumilla Beach on Santiago for a fairly short visit to the beach and wander around the area behind the beach to sea more of the island than the beach. The first group onshore were rewarded for being on time (some of our new arrivals are not very time or 'keep up with the group' conscious which is causing a bit of frustration among those who are - not me of course, you know how tolerant I am ...he he) with a turtle making its way to the waters edge - see pic.

On the beach we saw the tracks of female turtles who had come onshore at high tide and laid their eggs in the low sand dunes. Wilo filled us in on the leg laying strategies of the females (dig a sizeable hole, lay 40-60 eggs to one side and then cover them and head back to the water. Repeat several times 7-10 days apart during the warm weather), with the low success rate of survival of the babies to adult hood (3-5%) due to predation initially by birds on the islands (Hawks, ...) then by marine predators because they are small and soft to start with. However this success rate is considered OK and there is no human intervention here (ie, collection and incubation of eggs or releasing immature young into the wild).

We walked along the beach and saw the inevitable Sally Lightfoot crabs, as well as Ghost crabs that live in holes on the beach. These were not as easy to photograph by by zooming in on zoomed shots my good-but-unsophisticated camera got me some OK shots (see pic).

From the beach we walked to a lagoon behind the sand dunes and. Saw some small crabs that Willo said were Violin Crabs (but maybe could be be fiddler crabs) with one large claw. I used the same photographic technique and got some good pics. Here we also saw the black mangroves (which I missed when I took the afternoon off the other day) and heard that the rainfall is only about 14 inches pa. Not much and given the clouds that seem to gather often, it doesn't seem right!

We also came across a pile of bones (pic) which Wilo reported is the remains of bits of goat that scientists use to lure the Galapagos Hawks to the spot, then net them so that they can tag them for research. As a result they know that there are 3 males and on female on the island - which means one nest.

Back along the beach, where we observed a flock of Blue Footed Boobies fishing. As a group of 6-7 they circled and then dived together, bobbed up, took off and then repeated the process again and again. They were delightful to watch, particularly when they were joined by a pelican - I managed to catch a couple of shots of them but as you can guess it would have made a good movie and I wished that my iPad was with me, not on the boat!

Then back on the boat and quite quickly it was snorkel time, which I chose to miss as we have another session followed by a walk this afternoon and I felt this was going to be enough for me today. I am on holiday after all! My fellow travellers reported a good snorkelling time - masses of fish and a couple of reef sharks, but it was fairly rough like yesterday.

When they returned we joined Wilo on the top deck for a look at Bucanero (Buccaneer) Bay where the landscape was similar to what we saw on the other side of the island yesterday, with sharp drops into the ocean and lots of lava formations - see pics including a sideways one of a rock formation that the locals call 'the Bishop' - if you look closely the top looks like a bishop with his hat on and with hands up praying.

Then the boat moved further around the island to Puerto Egas (about 40 mins) and we had an early lunch followed by snorkelling.

My last snorkelling in the Galapagos did not disappoint me. Despite the conditions being quite choppy, the sun was out and the visibility was quite good, we were dropped off about 30 m offshore from a beach and instructed to head out and around a point, and to look out for a reef and rocky outcrop that we could just see order the water ahead of us. What was fabulous was the rocky outcrops which provided nooks and crannies for sea urchins, sea stars, a huge lobster and thousands of fish of all shape and sizes, and pleasingly several white tipped sharks and about 6 sea lions that again seemed to delight in someone diving with them. At the edge of the reef the bottom fell away and the light sparkled down into the depths and at one stage I saw a huge school of brightly coloured surgeon fish and they were in tight formation as they rolled across and down a rocky outcrop, reminding me more of a mob of sheep than a school of fish.

As we rounded the point we got into a patch of very rough water and I was pleased that everyone else was happy to call it a day as it was pushing the limits of my swimming / snorkelling skills so it was back into the zodiacs and to take off my gear for the last time on the QB. However at that moment I was too exhausted to be sentimental.

But there was not much time to be exhausted - we had about 40 minutes to be ready to head back onto land (wet landing onto the beach and then off tricky rocks to return) for one last look at plenty of marine Iguanas (including a group of 5 that I nearly stepped on they blend in so well with the black lava rocks, Blue herons, American herons, a galapagos dove and several of the very small population of fur seals on the Galapagos. Here we learnt the differences between fur seals and the many sea lions that have contributed to my enjoyable time here ( the differences include different body sizes - male sea lions are much bigger, different ear sizes, different coats and fur seals are a different shape, hunt at night and have larger eyes) - see brief pics - there were not many fur seals.

Then back onto the zodiacs and back to the QB for the last time. The crew, I know I have said this before, who handle these dingies are absolutely fantastic. Not only are they always willing to lend a hand but they are incredibly skilful in manoeuvring into beaches and docks / rocks, they spot animals very well and they keep an eye on everyone when we are snorkelling, ready with their whistles to call us in or to alert us to any danger.

I am now sitting in my cabin waiting for our last briefing as the boat moves us to near a small island where we will moor and have dinner, before we head to the port on Santa Cruz for tomorrow's activities (including my and 10 others' departures). The view out the cabin window is I think, of the South Western side of Santigo - a low volcanic hill reaching up into the clouds with pink and grey tones in the cloud and the choppy Pacific Ocean in the middle (the boat is rolling quite a bit - I think we are trying to make up lost time due to our late arrival back from this afternoon's activities - bang, crash, whoops, some of my stuff just fell off a shelf).

The view reminds me of Bali Hai in the movie of 'South Pacific' where Lieutenant Cable went and fell in love with a native girl (for those of you old enough to remember the movie, but many more of you know the show through its songs such as ' One Enchanted Evening', 'I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Outa My Hair' and 'Talking Happy Talk'. I am very familiar with these songs not only because Mum produced the show for the Canberra Philharmonic Society and I went to many rehearsals, but also because when I saw the movie as an impressionable early teenager I fell madly in love with Lt Cable (whoever he was - just looked him up - John Kerr - a google of the movie shows him as a fresh faced young thing) and listened to the record for weeks! I wonder where he is today - probably passed from this world (yes, in 2013).

Pic attached from my deck - sadly there won't be any more of remote Galapagos coastlines I don't think.

Oh dear, what a ramble. I might trim that later when I read over - or not. No, I didn't.

The rest of the evening was predictable and a rough trip to our mooring - but I slept well till 4am knowing I was on the early breakfast list.