20 Nov 2017

Abundant Wildlife on Macquarie Island

Macquarie Island never disappoints and it is even better if the weather is good. Fortunately the weather for the last few days as been excellent. We arrived at Macquarie Island on Sunday morning after a reasonably tough trip from the Auckland Islands, we had had 36 hours of punching into 25 knots of SW wind and sea.

One good thing about South Westerly winds is that the east coast of Macquarie is relatively protected. We were able to drop off some Macquarie Island staff that had travelled south with us and pick up some Rangers and Ornithologists that accompanied us during our stay at the Island. 

We spent  all day yesterday at Sandy Bay in the company of King and the endemic Royal Penguins. This morning we visited the huge King Penguin Colony at Lusitania Bay and then spent a half day at the ANARE Base at Buckles Bay where apart from some amazing wildlife including elephant seals and Gentoo and Rockhopper Penguins we enjoyed hot scones and tea with the Station Staff.

We have now left Macquarie Island for Campbell Island, some 380 nautical miles to the NE. We now have the prevailing weather behind us, meaning that not only are we making good speed but it is very comfortable travelling.