09 Dec 2022

The Mighty Legacy of Macquarie Island

Our second day at Macquarie Island, or "Macca" as it's known to the rangers, we explored the entire west coast of the island. Piling into our trusty Zodiacs, we skipped across the water towards Lusitania Bay - location of Macca's largest King Penguin colony.

The sheer number of birds triumphantly dwarfed the remains of the island's dark past, what our guides called "melting penguin pots" - the rusting digesters where penguins were herded into pens, slaughtered and processed for their oil in the late 19th century.

After lunch we tracked north to The Isthmus, where the Macquarie Island Research Station is located. Unfortunately we were unable to land due to the swell, however we were able to enjoy and Orca escort from the resident pod of Orca before it was time to return to the comforts of Heritage Adventurer.

In a fitting finale, we said our goodbyes to this incredible island which stood in silhoutte against the setting sun as our adventure continued.

Image from file (c): D.Brown