Forgotten Islands of the South Pacific: Subantarctic Islands

“The most amazing part of the world”

“CAMPBELL ISLAND We arrived at Campbell Island to a sunny day (although we had been warned that Campbell Island can and does have 4 seasons in one day). Luckily for us, this wasn't one of them and we enjoyed beautiful sunshine for our walk up Coll Lyall. This is where the MegaHerbs are situated and I had orders to photograph as many as I could. One quickly learns about all of these from the various lectures onboard ship, these have all been thoroughly interesting. The birdlife was amazing - Campbell Island is a nesting place for Albatrosses, and there are six varieties of these, the biggest and most magnificent being the Royal Albatross ( see photo attached ). With their more than 3 metre wing span, they are eye-catching. The sea-lions were performing for us and at first, two of them blocked our walk-way. It was left to our Tour Director to lure them out of our way so we could even begin the walk! ( see photo attached ). There is a DOC boardwalk right to the top of Coll Lyall, very well maintained and easy to walk on although quite narrow. You get a marvellous view of the West Coast of Campbell Island from Top of Coll Lyall, very rocky and windswept, but beautiful, and this is where all the MegaHerbs are situated, along with the breeding albatrosses. The bird-watchers amongst us were keen to find Snipe - so tiny that you could miss them amongst the foliage. I was quite amazed how far up the hill the sea-lions had gone, possibly more than a couple of kilometres from the sea............ THE SNARES This was an amazing trip, getting up close to the shoreline and seeing many of the 40,000 Snares Island Penguins that inhabit these shores and rocks. Their antics were amusing, leaping through the water like miniature dolphins. There were heaps of birds and the avid bird-watchers amongst us were pleased to tick off the final bird of the trip - the fern bird. We also saw lots of the NZ Fur Seal. And now we are home to 845 photos of the most amazing part of the world that not many people get to see so we feel very privileged. There were many highlights every day and we made a lot of new friends, some of whom have already been entertained in our home whilst they awaited their flights out of Invercargill.”

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