13 Feb 2016

Rare Day on Enderby

It was a rare day in the Subantarctic – we woke to sun and blue sky and the winds were light.  Armed with cut lunches we headed to Sandy Bay on Enderby Island and set off along the board walk over to the northern cliffs. New Zealand Sea Lion pups frolicked in the creeks we crossed and Yellow-eyed Penguins were coming and going between their forest home and the beach. The Rata was in bloom and the colours of the flora traced a magic pattern that in places extended as far as the eye could see. It was stunning in the sunshine. At the end of the track we were treated to inticate aerobatic displays by pairs of Sooty Albatross and later discovered their chicks on a nest. The highlight for some was seeing the elusive Snipe while others counted the Teal as a good find!  We split into two groups and 30 set off on an epic seven hour hike around the eastern side of the island. The rest returned to the beach to watch the Sea Lion action and the New Zealand Falcon who was obviously eating well as evidenced by the partially eaten corpses strewn around! All came back aboard late in the afternoon with faces glowing from the day in the sun, as tales were related at the recap in the bar before dinner. This voyage is off to a great start and the atmosphere on-board is electric. We will up anchor at 0300hrs and head south for Carnley Harbour where our ETA is 0700hrs. The weather appears to be turning, which sounds much more like the Subs I know!