We only have one week of Australia left! It feels like we've been here months, and although I'm loving it, I'm also ready to come home. I miss family, friends, church and work (!), and am sick of travelling. Next week seems a good time to end it. I couldn't cope with travelling for longer than this, and am impressed by people who do.

I've had a terrible night's sleep. I watched Iain sleep, with envy, as waves rocked the boat, then the tide turned, the waves smacked the boat, and everything in the main cabin went flying and crashing around. I slept at least twice, as I dreamt, and was asleep when Baz shouted everyone awake at 7am. We have croissants, cereal and fruit for breakfast, and sit looking at the islands and sea - how peaceful and relaxing. We can see Australia, which is another wake-up call to being so far from home.

[Langford Spit]

We leave at 8am, heading for a sand bank beach. We walk along the bank, but not far as the tide's coming in. Everyone sits on the beach (despite having been burnt the day before) and Iain and I snorkel. Iain's getting more and more confident in the water, which is good to see. Unfortunately he's got a sunburnt back and legs, so spending time snorkeling isn't going to help.

There are turtles in this bay, which usually are friendly with swimmers, but seem to be in hiding - we only see them from the boat. The fish are amazing, and the coral stunning - so colourful and varied. You can't find better than this in an aquarium, it's incredible. We snorkel for half an hour then head back to the boat, as we're getting cold.

The swim back is hard, the current is strongly against us, and me not having flippers, and not using my foot is very tough going. I'm exhausted when we clamber on board. Meg and Baz are surprised to see us, saying they didn't realise anyone was going to swim back to the boat or they'd have warned against it. Everyone else is sunbathing.

We dry, change, and sit in the shade. the sun yesterday was incredibly strong, and we don't want to burn. Baz picks the others up, and we head along the island to do more snorkeling. This time Iain and I don't want to get wet, but some of the others do. We lunch on veg rice, salad, sandwiches and a veggie pasty for me, then we feed fish off the dinghy, and a couple of the girls get in the water as we do so. They're surrounded by dozens of fish, which jump around enthusiastically. It's great, and wonderful to see.

[Iain heads home]

At 1pm we head back to Airlie Beach, under sail as it's windy. Iain steers most of the journey. A couple of the girls have a go, but they veer around randomly. We expected to do more sailing, but we've not even done a single tack - Baz says it's problematic for the crew if no-one can/wants to help. It's nice to sit back and take in the scenery - we haven't done that much over the past month.

[The group]

We get back at 4pm, and a courtesy bus takes us back to our hotel. The English girl from our boat, Andrea, is getting a bus in an hour, overnight to Hervey Bay - we're heading there ourselves in a couple of days. We offer her our room to shower in, then I drive her to the bus station. When we're waiting for her bus, I show her our didge. We're surrounded by backpackers, all eager for a go. Everyone agrees it's a beauty, and I'm very proud of it. Only one guy manages to play, though, everyone else has a shot. I haven't got a hope - I seem to have tonsillitis and am struggling to speak. It's getting worse, and I'll get some medication soon.

Iain, in the meantime, goes to the book exchange down the road. We meet back up at the hotel. It's worth paying an extra $50 for a hotel just to have a fabulous shower in our room. We've got lots of manky and salty clothes, so we put these in the laundry while we eat. Iain has a platter including calamari, lamb, chicken, and salmon. Think he's building his own version of Noah's Ark.

We're pretty knackered, and go to sleep at 8.30pm, hoping to crack in a twelve hour marathon sleep. We're relaxed, which has made us realised how tired we are. It's been a great, but tough, month.