15 Feb 2021

Hardwicke Settlement, Musgrave Inlet and Lake Hinemoa

Sometimes average weather is exactly the right weather as we found out on our Galapagos of the Southern Ocean and Chatham Islands voyage. The drizzle this morning fitted the sombre mood when we visited the remains of the Hardwicke Settlement in Port Ross. In 1849 60 settlers arrived here from England, their hopes crushed when instead of the promised green pastures they encountered thick bush, acidic soil, driving rain and gale force winds.

Later in the day we Zodiac cruised the rocky shoreline of Musgrave Inlet in brilliant sunshine. We observed Rockhopper Penguins onshore preening and squabbling with their neighbours as bull kelp created abstract patterns as it swirled in the waves. On the opposite side of the fiord we entered a new world exploring some caverns where clear blue water below was matched by a clear blue sky above rimmed by rata trees on the cavern roof. Followed in by a Hooker's/New Zealand Sea Lion its noisy exhales and the call of a Bellbird both amplified by the cavern's walls.

Our Zodiac cruise took us to the edge of Musgrave Inlet, here a slightly arduous and occasionally muddy 40-minute walk to Lake Hinemoa rewarded with views over the lake to a green hanging valley with several impressive waterfalls.

Captain Pruss relocated Spirit of Enderby to Carnley Harbour for dinner and, as the sun set, we gathered on the front deck to watch the clouds turn red over the distant hills.

Image © K.Riedel, Heritage Expeditions