Dunedin to Sub Antarctic

Although the night had been quite rough we woke to a calm sea and sunshine, a wonderful surprise. We can see penguins bobbing around the ship as they go further out to sea to find fish. So pretty to watch and impossible to photograph as they swim leaping dolphin like out of the water . We can also hear their honking as the ship dropped anchor quite close to shore.

Our group was the first of the morning to go out to the Isthmus. Only 40 visitors can be on this side of the island at any one time which means there will be four groups 2 hours apart. It was quite rough getting into the zodiac but not really an issue. The crew manage us so well. We arrived on the beach in bright sunshine and a calm landing. We certainly needed sunblock and sunglasses. I felt quite emotional stepping out onto the beach, having this rare opportunity to visit such a remote, beautiful and important place. Fewer than a thousand people per year are allowed to come to Macquarie Island and here we were. Even fewer people actually get to step on to the island as it is often a very inhospitable place weather wise and one of the cloudiest places on Earth. The annual average hours of sunshine per year is 862 hours, we experience more than 10 hours of sunshine.

The first thing we see on landing are the giant elephant seals. Although they are enormous it turns out those we are seeing are pups and females. The males have already headed back out to see after a busy time on land with the females. They are everywhere. We are told that we must keep at least 500 m away from any wildlife however, we were warned that the wildlife are not aware of this and are very likely to come towards us. The elephant seals make a great racket constantly snorting which sounds like very large farting. They also growl at one another as they try and position themselves on the ground. It sounds like they are farting all of the time or barking. They have the most amazing large round eyes which makes them in some ways very photogenic. They are however very large and not very elegant looking sea creature. Our guide suggests that we take our time and walk slowly, we had been told that it was likely the boardwalk would be covered with seals and we would have to walk along the beach which was the case. We see a variety of penguins including King, gentoo and rook hopping penguins. The wild life makes no attempt to get away from us, they are as curious about us as we are of them.

After the walk along the beach, we climb a set of stairs to get to the top of the ridge for a view of the scientific research station and the other side of the isthmus. We are delayed in our climb because an elephant seal had decided the foot of the staircase was where they wanted to spend the day. Our guide contacted the ranger on the island who was there to supervise us and ensure no one does the wrong thing. He came and with claps of the hand and a gentle push with his foot managed to convince the large creature to move off the staircase. The view from the top was really great, particularly given we have such a clear and sunny day.

The other birds we see include sooty albatross, giant petrals, skuas, shags and cormorants. The birds on the ground make no attempt to move away and are quite happy to sit there and enable us to take their picture. Because Macquarie Island is not as far south as the Arctic and antarctic regions there is more vegetation, particularly grasses and moss. It really is quite a beautiful green island. We are so lucky we get to spend 2 hours walking along the beach and the paths.

In the afternoon the ship sails to the other side of the isthmus Sandy Bay. We begin our second outing after lunch. This time we are much later in the afternoon and don't get out until 5:00 p.m. still bright sunshine and calm. Our excursion is to the very large colonies of King and Royal penguins. The first thing we see again as we land are the elephant seals lolling around on the beach. We walk towards the King penguin rookery, very smelly, noisy and full of feathers. It isn't until we reach the edge of a very large group of King penguins that I remember how allergic I am to feathers. I stand back from the main group. What was fascinating about the viewing here was to see the fledglings of which there were many. They are brown and fluffy and in the middle of the flock for protection.

The next part of the walk, again we have 2 hours, is we walk to where we can see the Royal penguins. I personally like the Royal penguins best. They have an orangey yellow feathery crest and are quite a bit smaller than the Kings. We walk to where most are coming in from catching fish to take up to the rookery. We are asked to stand to one side to ensure that they can quickly and easily take their catch back to the rookery to feed the young. Fascinating to stand there and watch. There are stairs to the rookery so we are able to walk up and observe the flock of penguins and their chicks. Our guide suggests we spend time watching and to focus on one small group to watch as the parent brings back fish to regurgitate into the mouth of the chick. Seems to take a really long time for the feeding to finish, I do as suggested watching the feeding in action. We weren't too close to the penguins so I wasn't impacted by the feathers thankfully. Off to one side we can see giant petrals waiting for the opportunity to seize any feed available. We watch as the petral tries to sneak into the flock but it is forced back by the penguins who are unimpressed by the incursion. The petral however is quite happy to fly back to a place where they can observe and hopefully pick up something later.

On the way up to the rookery we are told more about the amazing vegetation on Macquarie Island. Much of it had been eaten by rabbits. Now that the rabbits have been eradicated they are growing back. One of the plants I particularly like is in flower described as a herb.

Back to the ship. On the way, however, word comes through that the resident pod of orcas are in the area. We see the fin come out of the water, the male orca has a large very visible fin, the pod consists of a male two females and a pup. To get out to a place where we can see them the zodiac had to go quite quickly and quite a way from the ship. The ride back to the ship was quite exciting as the swell had come up and we were heading straight into it. Waterproof gear is the difference between seriously wet and uncomfortable and an exciting ride.Read more