Galapagos of the Southern Ocean: Subantarctic Islands

“A wilderness experience that few people will ever experience”

“Having kayaked around most of coastal New Zealand I was very excited at the opportunity to be able to join Heritage Expedition’s journey to the Sub Antarctic Islands with my kayak on board. Nine kayakers were able to leave the ship on a daily basis to explore the shore line of The Snares, Auckland, Macquarie and Campbell Islands. For us, each Island had its own special treasure which we were able to experience up so close. The rugged rocky outcrops on the Snares seemed awash with wild life where the Snares Yellow Crested penguins encircled our crafts like a bunch of clowns that were competing for our attention. The Auckland Islands seemed to have everything from a coastline enriched with dazzling array of plant life to the curious sea lions and Yellow Eyed penguins that swam under our kayaks as if we were play things from another planet. Landing our kayaks on Macquarie Island was made difficult as most of the beaches were overrun by the sprawling penguin colonies. Dozens of these penguins swum alongside our kayaks as we paddled along just beyond the breakers. But for me, Campbell Island seemed to have it all. The huge cliffs that overhung the ocean around East Cape, the sea lion colonies we were able to paddle up to and shorelines that were covered in a variety of megaherbs that helped hide the Yellow Eyed penguins and bird life that were nesting along the shoreline. Plus there was quite a lot of European history that we were able to explore. To have been able to kayak within these Islands was a wilderness experience that few people will ever experience. I am just so thankful to have kayaked within the Islands of Sub Antarctic. ”

Max Grant