09 Mar 2015

Southern Season Ends

We have now departed Campbell Island and are setting course for Lyttelton.  When you read this we will be making our way north off the east coast of the South Island.

We arrived at Campbell Island ahead of schedule early on Friday morning. The weather made one last attempt to thwart our plans, throwing storms at us over the last three days prior to arriving at Campbell. Everybody survived this onslaught and despite being a little short on sleep we stepped ashore to enjoy a great day on Campbell Island. It was surprisingly warm for these climes with a NE wind, but for the best part of the day it was wet and foggy. These conditions didn’t deter anybody from venturing out and a small group completed the 12.5 km NW Bay Circuit across to NW Bay and returning via the lower slopes of Mt Duma. Meanwhile the remainder of the group visited some of the historic sites in upper Perseverance Harbour and climbed Col Lyall Saddle to view albatross.  We were restored by blissful sleep at anchor overnight and awoke to blue skies, sunshine and light winds. The range of activities on offer during the morning included a successful search for the Campbell Island Flightless Teal. Some folk also took the opportunity to revisit the albatross colony on Col Lyall Saddle to add to their photo collections.

We will arrive in Lyttelton tomorrow morning and farewells will ring around the ship. The next couple of weeks will be spent doing annual maintenance before we head north for a long awaited jaunt to the Kermadec Islands. Stand by for updates from the Pacific.