14 Jan 2013

Macquarie in the Sunshine

Our luck seems to have changed for the better. The weather and sea conditions are as close to perfect as one can imagine in the Southern Ocean and everybody (especially the chefs) is loving it.

We arrived well ahead of schedule at Macquarie Island and anchored at Buckles Bay off the Australian Base. One of the highlights of a visit to Macquarie Island is the hospitality of the station staff. They accompany us on our landings and guide us to all the best viewing locations. I am very pleased to report that on this island where they endure 330 days of rain a year, this time we were greeted by blue skies and brilliant sunshine. We enjoyed the King and Royal Penguins in Sandy Bay in the morning, then after a late lunch we visited the station and its environs where we saw Elephant Seals and Gentoo and Rockhopper Penguins. A cup of tea and scones at the Base Mess was followed by some retail therapy. The station staff were selling postcards as a fund raiser for their friends and families back in Tasmania who have lost so much in the recent bushfires. You have to admire the great spirit of these Aussies looking out for each other.

Our perfect day was followed by low fog and rain which prevented us from seeing anything of the huge King Penguin colony at Lusitania Bay this morning, so rather than wait around for the weather to clear we started our run south. We have a long journey ahead of us but at least we are starting out in calm seas.