South Promontory

After we wake up we go on to our balcony to look at the view of where we are. We see bobbing heads in the water all around us, can these be penguins? Are they birds? It doesn't take very long before we're able to distinguish between a bobbing penguin and a bird. They move quickly gliding out of the water and then plunging back in for prey. There are other birds as well. Cape Petrals, albatross, and tiny little Prions and seals. It is hard to drag ourselves away to breakfast.

Again, we have been warned that not only might we have a rough zodiac ride this morning, it's likely to be cloudy with showers. By the time our zodiac leaves, we have a very calm sea and the most glorious sunshine. The expedition leader later says this is the best he has ever seen in The Snares. We have a just over two hour ride in the zodiac in the most spectacular conditions in a remote part of the world. The islands are rocky granite outcrops uninhabited apart from a vast array of birds, fur seals and endangered sea lions.

The creatively named Snares penguins are, of course the highlight. Amazing that these tiny birds can climb the shear cliffs to the top where they can nest. Rafts of penguins surround the zodiac as they know the head out to see to fish or come back to land. I love watching the way they move through the water it's so entertaining yet so difficult to photograph.

The we see are the small diving petrals and cape petrals. We also see cormorants, Buller's Albatross and Skuas, had to photograph but hard to stop taking pictures in this magic place.Read more