21 Nov 2016

The Beauty of the Expedition Travel: Snares Islands and Enderby Island

Our first expedition of the 2016/17 Southern Season got underway from Bluff on Thursday 17th bound for the Subantarctic Islands. “Birding Downunder” is perhaps one of our better known expeditions.  This voyage will include visits to the Subantarctic Islands of the Snares Islands, Auckland Islands, Macquarie Island, Campbell Island, Antipodes Island, Bounty Islands, plus the Chatham Islands. 

It was a truly international group that assembled in Invercargill, New Zealand southernmost city. We have a wide range of interests onboard from photographers, birders, historians, everyone united in their desire to experience these incredibly nature-rich and isolated islands.

On our first morning out of port we arrived at the Snares Islands with the weather and sea conditions somewhat marginal for a zodiac cruise and a forecast predicting the weather to deteriorate further.  The decision was made to board zodiacs and go immediately, with breakfast and coffees left to await our return.  We were rewarded with amazing views of the all the birds including the endemic Snares Crested Penguin, which was a highlight for many.

The decision to zodiac cruise epitomises the beauty of expedition travel on a small ship such as Spirit of Enderby.  The small number of people aboard and flexibility of our programme allowed us to work with the weather window, move quickly to ultimately deliver an exceptional experience for expeditioners. 

We were back on board for breakfast and we continued to the Auckland Islands. Sea conditions were average for travelling but good for pelagic watching.  For many it was a hard decision whether to relax in bed or be on deck.

We spent a day on Enderby Island - a jewel situated at the northernmost point on the Auckland Islands.   We had typical Subantarctic weather at this latitude - some sun, some hail, some wind and some rain.  We enjoyed this magnificent island and between us managed to see all the bird species which can be found here including Yellow-eyed penguin,Auckland Islands cormorant, Auckland Islands snipe, Light-mantled sooty albatross, Southern Royal Albatross, Giant Petrel amongst others.

With rough weather in front of us we delayed our departure from the Auckland Islands to Macquarie for a few hours as a ridge of high pressure is due to move onto the area in the next few hours.  We will update you next from Macquarie Island - a truly magnificent wildlife hotspot that we know our expeditioners will fall in love with.

Photo credit (from file): S.Blanc