1763: Galapagos of the Southern Ocean 01 Dec 2017
Day 1: Friday 1 December
Dunedin
“Good Morning Good People!” Judd Hill our Expedition Leader introduced himself in our Dunedin hotel lobby with a beaming smile, a twinkle in his eye and an ungovernable mop of corkscrewed hair. His cheerfulness and optimism was to remain a feature the entire trip. He and Heidi Dohn, the Cruise Director, welcomed, briefed and prepared us for embarkation the following morning.
Day 2: Saturday 2 December
Dunedin to Stewart Island / Rakiura
Position: 06:00 45° 52 S 17° 32 E / 18:00 46° 31 S 170° 03 E
Wind westerly at 5 knots / swell 4 metres (pm) / air temperature 25° / water temperature 16°
Heritage Expedition staff arrived at our hotel promptly at 7 am; guides Chris Todd and Chris Collins, and two of the Russian crew, Max & Victor. They checked in our luggage and sent it ahead to our cabins. We followed a short time later. The Spirit of Enderby (the ship’s trading name – it is officially registered as the Professor Khromov) was moored to the wharf, its deep blue hull and white superstructure crisp in the bright sunlight. Once aboard we cleared passport control (as Macquarie Island is a territory of Australia) before being served tea and scones in the bar-library and having a chance to check out our cosy cabins.
From there we went straight into the lifeboat drill and an emergency briefing about evacuation procedures, how to get off and on the inflatable Zodiacs used for outings, how to use the lifejackets, and the protocols for quarantine procedures before landing at any of the Subantarctic Islands.
Formalities over, most of us went up to the top deck to watch our departure from Otago Harbour. It was a gorgeous day, sunny and warm with the sea sparkling. We watched Pied and Variable Oystercatchers, Royal Spoonbill, Otago Shag, White Faced Heron, Little Blue Penguins and at Tairoa Heads; Northern Royal Albatross and a colony of nesting shags, their pecking-distance nests creating a geometric pattern on the steep hillside. Just outside the heads New Zealand Fur Seals porpoised through the waves. Once in the open sea Lisle Gwynn, a talented young British birding guide, gave a lecture on the identification of seabirds in the Southern Ocean, leaving the audience convinced that it was at best a very challenging business!
An hour before dinner was ‘bar time’ and a chance to start getting to know our fellow passengers, mainly Kiwis and Aussies. Bar time was followed by dinner, tonight a starter followed by a choice of delicious salmon or lamb-rack for mains from our excellent chefs Ed and Matt. Next came ‘Wildlife Club’ or ‘bird club’ as it was dubbed; a daily summary of the birds, marine mammals and any other creatures we came across in the course of the day. That evening a full moon set over the South Island of New Zealand as the wind and sea gradually picked up from the west.
Day 3: Sunday 3 December
The Snares and at Sea
Position 06:00 47° 29 S 167° 27 E / 18:00 49° 10 S 166° 32 E.
Wind nor’west 8 knots / swell 4 metres / air temperature 16° / water temperature 11°
Most of us were woken at about 4 am as we emerged from the lee of Stewart Island / Rakiura and were hit by a 2 metre swell directly on our beam. There were a few empty chairs at the 07:30 buffet breakfast as some us found our sea legs. Many of us then went up on the bridge to watch seabirds. The Snares emerged from the mist by mid-morning, but unfortunately the 4 metre swell made it impossible to launch the Zodiacs. Instead, Captain Dmitri took us as close as possible to the islands to view them from the decks. The seas there must be very productive if the huge numbers of seabird is anything to go by: Snares (Pintado) Petrel, Grey-headed, White-capped, Southern Royal, Campbell and Antipodean Albatross soared around the ship. The endemic Snares Crested Penguins swam out to us and porpoised or preened themselves. Tiny diving petrels fluttered around at speed before suddenly disappearing into the sides of waves to dive for fish. Long strings of Sooty Shearwaters flicked from side to side, their wing-tips almost skimming the waves and Northern Giant Petrels patrolled looking for anything to scavenge. Distant penguins clambered and hopped in their hundreds from the sea, up exposed rocky slopes to their nests in the low-growing Olearia, Pachystegia (tree daisies) and Veronica (hebe) forest and shrublands above.
After three or four passes in the ship we set a southerly course for the Auckland Islands. This trajectory put the sea almost directly behind us, much more comfortable than when it was on our beam. After lunch we carried out our first quarantine checks, which involved inspecting all the gear we planned to take with us onto the islands, vacuuming it, cleaning it of any seeds and getting it checked off by a staff member. The object was to make sure that we brought nothing to the islands that might be capable of spreading or causing disease.
That afternoon New Zealand-based guide Chris Todd gave a lecture about the New Zealand (or Hooker) Sea Lion, followed by Judd with an introduction to the Auckland Islands. Whilst in the bar a call came from Chris Collins on the bridge, ‘Dusky Dolphins to Starboard!’ We rushed outside with cameras just in time to see a pod of dolphins surfing the pressure waves beside the ship. 
Photo credit: C. Collins
Photo credit: L. Gwynn
Day 4: Monday 4 December
Enderby Island
Position 06:00 50° 30 S 166° 17 E
Wind nor’west 7 knots / swell 1 metre / air temperature 12° / sea temperature 10°
The Spirit of Enderby dropped anchor in Port Ross at 2 am, providing us with a calm tail end to our night’s sleep. Breakfast was served at 06:30, followed by a briefing about our landing that day. By 09.30 we were in the Zodiacs heading to Sandy Bay beach at Enderby Island: Our first landing! We landed in a tiny cove in the basalt shoreline, climbing from the Zodiacs to a tidal shelf covered in massive strands of bull kelp. Twenty or thirty sea lions were scattered along the beach, contesting territory while they waited for the females to arrive. One or two growled and lunged at us as we crossed the beach, but without much conviction. Behind the western end of the beach lay 2 cabins for researchers and conservation staff. One of them, Chris, explained that he and his team were researching the New Zealand Sea Lion and Yellow-eyed Penguin, which have both declined in recent years. He informed us that most of the Yellow-eyed Penguins went about 75 km out to sea on foraging trips, before returning to feed their chicks on the island.
We divided ourselves into ‘long’ and ‘short’ walkers; the former crossed the island via the boardwalk and returned the same way to the beach, the latter crossed the island via the boardwalk then walked around the eastern two thirds of the island. At the beginning of the boardwalk we entered a low forest of rata (Metrosideros) and turpentine scrub (Dracophyllum). As we climbed the forest soon gave way to low shrubland, then tussock and herb field as the island became more wind-exposed. The megaherbs were starting to flower: The huge greeny-yellow spherical flower-heads of Azorella, bright yellow tubular flowers and strap-like leaves of Bulbinella, spectacular mauve globes of the carrot-like Anisotome and striking mauve daisy-like Pleurophyllum. Auckland Island Dotterel (similar to their mainland counterparts) probed for grubs amongst the tough Astelia cushion plants and Auckland Island Pipits fed close to us, almost oblivious to our presence. The distant white specks we could see on the hillsides turned out to be nesting Southern Royal Albatross, which we soon saw flying low across the tussocks. On the wild north-facing side of the island shags, giant petrels, skuas, and Light-mantled Sooty Albatross soared along the clifftops. A little farther we saw the latter nesting on ledges, their subtle gradations of grey and brown extraordinarily beautiful, with a striking arc of white feathers just behind their eyes. Wind and driving rain set in, with clifftop waterfalls being driven backwards and up over our heads. We passed giant petrels with chicks, giving them a wide birth to avoid disturbance. Red-crowned Parakeets fed on the ground amongst mauve Gentianella, an incongruous sight. The black and white Auckland Island Tomtits flitted about and landed on sticks or the tops of flowers. And inquisitive sea lion followed us down the bank on to the Derry Castle Reef, the site of a shipwreck in the 1800s. Nearby, a Yellow-eyed Penguin stood on the cliff top, looking at us a little nervously. We climbed over a nearby spur populated by a large group of resting giant petrels and then dropped down to a small creek out of the wind to have lunch. We watched lines of breakers curling onto the boulder shoreline, the wave-tops a beautiful azure-green. A couple of hardy Auckland Island Shags dived just beyond the surf-line. We passed a pair of Auckland Island Flightless Teal resting on a mud bank, heads tucked under their wings. Snipe flew up in front of us in a flurry of wings before disappearing back into the tussocks. We visited a large colony of Auckland Island Shags, the bright magenta rings around their eyes very distinctive. They gathered clumps of herbage in their beaks and flew off with it, long grass streaming out behind them, to add to their nests on the cliff tops below.
At the south-east corner of the island we passed through an ‘enchanted’ rata forest: the juxtaposition of elements combined to create almost dream-like impressions. Gnarled and twisted tree-trunks under a low, wind-sheared canopy were populated by Bellbird, Tui and bright green Red-crowned Parakeets; an understory of bright green moss and deep green rhubarb-like Azorella with smart black and white tomtits flitting about in it; and with Yellow-eyed Penguins and New Zealand Sea Lions resident on the forest floor.
We re-emerged on the coast and followed the rocky shoreline through thick tussocks and shrubs back to Sandy Bay. There most of the large male sea lions were lying quietly on the beach, apparently exhausted by their constant conflict. Late in the afternoon Yellow-eyed Penguins began emerging from the surf in twos and threes, looking warily in all directions before making a dash across the beach between sleeping sea lions, clambering up through the long grass and disappearing into the forest. On the way back to the ship we cruised along spectacular kelp-lined basalt cliffs before returning for a lively evening in the bar and a very welcome dinner.
Photo credit: A. Ryder
Photo credit: C. Todd
Day 5: Tuesday 5 December
En route to Macquarie Island
Position 06:00 51° 38 S 164° 52 E / 18:00 52° 59 S 162° 07 E.
Wind west nor’west 7 knots / swell 2.5 metres / air temperature 12° / sea temperature 10°
Last night Judd decided to rewrite the itinerary for the next stage of our trip, based on a strong weather warning for Macquarie Island for the days we intended to visit. Arriving there two days earlier than expected would give us the best chance of making landings and leaving again before the bad weather hit. The ship altered course accordingly to sail directly to Macquarie Island.
We awoke to a beautiful fine morning, with Southern Royal and White-Capped Albatrosses in good numbers near the ship. We carried out quarantine checks after breakfast, followed by an informative talk on expedition photography by Lisle, beautifully illustrated with shots of wildlife and people from all over the world. After lunch we watched a film about the pest eradication program on Macquarie Island, which involved a helicopter-based aerial baiting program to get rid of rabbits, rats and mice, followed by hunting teams with dogs to eliminate the last of the rabbits. These almost Herculean efforts have resulted in a spectacular resurgence of vegetation and wildlife on the island. The sea shop was then open for a couple of hours, after which Judd gave an introduction to Macquarie Island and outlined plans for our landings there.
Day 6: Wednesday 6 December
Macquarie Island
Position 54° 30 S 158° 57 E.
Wind nor’west 4 knots / swell 2 metres / air temperature 12° / sea temperature 9°
We arrived at ‘Macca’ at 7 am, our first spectacle a pod of Orca fishing amongst a raft of giant petrels (now becoming familiar to us as ‘GP’s’) between the ship and the shore. At 9 am staff took Zodiacs to Buckles Bay and picked up two Australian rangers (Andrea and Penny) and a meteorologist (Matt) from the Australian base. Andrea, from the Tasmanian Parks and Wildlife Service who administer the island, gave us a briefing about how to behave around wildlife before our 10:00 excursion to Sandy Bay.
We approached the beach in beautiful sunshine, bow first, both of which are apparently very unusual in this part of the world! We were met by a contingent of King Penguins and elephant seal pups or ‘weaners' as they are known; the former exquisite in their gold and grey coats; the latter irresistibly cute with huge shiny eyes and pudgy bodies. We were free to wander along the beach as far as a large King Penguin colony at one end, and a large Royal Penguin colony at the other end then up a Boardwalk. There was so much going on it was difficult to know where to look. Out on a rocky shelf that divided the beach, two enormous male elephant seals reared up on the lower third of their bodies, bellowed and thumped their huge chests and heads together. Some of the young males, less than a 10th of adult size, emulated them in play-fights, emitting adolescent shrieks and barks. Rafts of King and Royal Penguins preened themselves in the breakers before emerging from the surf and strutting up the beach. Others went the other way, walking down the beach before disappearing into the waves; in the case of the Royals squabbling and pecking each other as they did so. The Royal Penguin colony on a terrace high above the beach was bedlam! An area of perhaps 200 x 300 m was completely covered in penguins sitting on eggs or chicks. The smell and the noise were intense. Penguins leaving or returning to the colony ran the gauntlet of all the other penguins which pecked at them as they passed. Big Brown Skuas with rapier-like beaks flew and stood around the colony, raising their wings and shrieking at the penguins in the hope of frightening them off three nests, or watching for a chance to dash in and grab a chick. One flew in fast and tried to land among the penguins: Immediately 30 beaks were turned skyward and it was forced to retreat. On the other side of the colony the penguins weren't so lucky: A skua dragged a struggling chick out to the edge of the colony where a number of skua then fought over it and quickly tore it to pieces. We left the beach reluctantly for a 2 pm lunch back on board.
After lunch we landed by Zodiac at the Australian base at Buckles Bay, a miscellany of huts, sheds, scientific instruments, flag-poles, a dome, fuel tanks and vehicles spread along a low-lying isthmus. Huge elephant seals lay side-by-side in smelly wallows amongst the tussocks, occasionally opening their eyes to watch us as we passed. Groups of Gentoo Penguins nested in groups between the buildings. The previous winter a Sperm Whale had washed up on the beach: It's enormous vertebrae, scapula and jawbones lay scattered along the beach. A putrefied elephant seal lay surrounded by giant petrels, one of which was feasting on its entrails through a hole in the thick hide. We climbed a steep boardwalk to the top of Razorback Ridge, for a wonderful panoramic view back down the island. Albatross, Brown Skuas and giant petrels soared past, making the most of the updrafts. Some of the GP’s were all white, a morph that is common around Macquarie Island.
Staff at the base treated us to tea and scones with cream and jam in their mess, where they also had a few books and mementos for sale. Some of us sent postcards there, which are likely to take several months to reach their destinations. On the way back to the ship we detoured past a Rockhopper Penguin colony. The bar and dinner tables were buzzing that night after a magnificent Macquarie day.
Photo credit: L. Gwynn
Photo credit: C. Collins
Day 7: Thursday 7 December
Lusitania Bay, Macquarie Island and at sea.
Position 06:00 54° 30 S 158° 57 E / 18:00 52° 42 S 166° 35 E
Wind northerly 7 knots / swell 2 metres / air temperature 10° / water temperature 9°
At dawn there was low mist over Macquaire Island, which was visible only as a green wedge between sea and sky. As soon as we anchored the ship was surrounded by scores of King Penguins, visible gliding fast just below the surface or popping up rafts.
We took the Zodiacs in towards the shore on a lazy, gentle swell and cruised along the coast from north to south and back. The beaches and a large alluvial fan were completely covered with an estimated 200 to 300,000 King Penguins, an astonishing sight. This year the chick count was down to around 30,000 from 60,000 last year. A large group of GP’s floated just beyond kelp line, two of them busy disemboweling a dead penguin that floated on its back, beak skyward. A pair of Light-mantled Sooty Albatross glided low past the Zodiacs. Over the din of the penguins on shore perhaps 100 metre away, we could hear the occasional elephant seal roar, or the weaner equivalent, an adolescent chirruping bark.
Chris C spotted a small group of Rockhopper Penguins perched on large boulders just above the surf. A large rock nearby sported a group of Macquarie Island shags. Eventually the persistent drizzle and cold drove us back to the ship, where we warmed ourselves variously with hot drinks or hot showers. We lifted anchor and cruised back up the east coast in the lee of Macquarie before setting a north-easterly course toward Campbell Island. We felt especially glad to have managed landings at such a remote and magnificent place.
That afternoon Chris Collins gave a lecture on ‘Cetaceans of the Southern Ocean’ followed by Lisle on ‘Endemic Birds of the Subantarctic.’
Day 8: Friday 8 December
At sea toward Campbell Island
Position 06:00 51° 53 S 13° 52 E / 18:00 52° 42 S 166° 31 E
Wind nor’west 25 knots / swell 4 metres / air temperature 16° / water temperature 10°
Most of us were awake by around 4 am as the sea became increasingly rough and the wind picked up to 25 knots from the north-east before swinging around the to north-west at about 30 knots. The captain adjusted heading to make the rolling motion more tolerable, but there were still a few empty chairs at breakfast. We spent all day at sea, photographing the ship’s plunging bow creating sheets of salt-spray, watching albatrosses and prions deal effortlessly with the wild conditions, or simply resting in our bunks.
By mid-afternoon conditions had eased enough for us to carry out quarantine checks for Campbell Island. This was followed by a lecture from Chris Todd, ’An Introduction to Subantarctic Plants.’ The sky cleared after dinner to a beautiful evening. Many off us climbed up on the fifth level deck to watch Southern Royal and Campbell Albatrosses glide, rise and dip all around the ship, their wings lit golden by the low evening sun; the black ‘mascara’ smudge around the Campbell’s eye in striking contrast to its white face and orange bill. Expectations are high for a full day of activity on Campbell Island tomorrow.
Photo credit: L. Gwynn
Day 9: Saturday 9 December
Campbell Island
Position 06:00 51° 42 S 169° 10 E
Wind nor’west 7 knots / swell 1 metre / air temperature 14° / water temperature 11°
We heard the anchor drop in Perseverance Harbour at around 4 am, with breakfast at 06:30. Judd gave a briefing on Campbell Island after breakfast before a group of us (nine passengers) left an hour later for a round-trip walk of 12 kilometres across to the western side of the island; involving a double crossing of the 240 m high ridge to and from Northwest Bay. We climbed steadily up through tall Dracophyllum and up into the tussock and fog. Antarctic Terns screeched overhead to warn us away from (and alert us to) their colony nearby. We stopped often to admire tiny ground orchids, gentians and daisies beside the spongy, sphagnum moss track. Just below the summit ridge the megaherbs grew and flowered in profusion, made even more exotic by the enormous white albatrosses nesting amongst them. Once on the ridge the wind gusts were so strong that it was difficult to stand upright. We quickly descended out of the worst of the wind above limestone cliffs to Northwest Bay. At one stage we passed a snipe, its striped body almost invisible against dead fern-leaves. The last section of descent was a muddy scramble and slide down through head-high tussocks, detouring around a resident sea lion and ending in a creek-bed to the rocky shoreline, where a handful of elephant seals lay about on the rocks, barely acknowledging our presence. We clambered up a muddy route through the tussock and scrub to reach Northwest Hut, where we stopped for lunch. We cooled down quickly in the drizzle and wind so kept moving and headed up the spur. At a small creek crossing we were accosted by an irate male sea lion determined not to let us past. After a few diversionary tactics from Chris and Anna, we eventually made it safely by. We continued climbing up an old fence line (from the sheep-grazing days) and back onto the tussock-clad tops. Southern Royal Albatross were nesting every 50 or 100 metres, their white feathers in stark contrast to the dull browns and yellows of the tussock. Many of the nests were still being built; essentially pedestals in the shape of upside-down dog-bowls, made from a combination of grass, moss and peaty mud. In one of the previous year’s nests, we found a poignant reminder of the perils these birds face at sea; a long line fishing hook and trace.
We eventually descended a long spur, past a beautifully sheltered cave on an outcrop surrounded by windswept shrubs, before dropping down through Dracophyllum shrubland to Garden Cove, muddy, tired but very happy. Lisle ferried some of us by Zodiac back to the ship, others electing to carry on and climb the boardwalk to Col-Lyall.
The rest of us not on the long walk spent a gusty morning on a Zodiac cruise around Perseverance Harbour, watching Campbell Island Teal, sea lions, penguins, shags, Antarctic Terns, Kelp Gulls and albatross before returning to the ship for a lunch of seafood chowder. We also visited the site of the old farm homestead, the only evidence now remaining being a cast iron stove standing in the grass. At 2 pm we were ferried to the Col-Lyall boardwalk, which started at the site of the abandoned NZ weather station, climbed up past the old hostel, around Mount Beeman then steadily up to the saddle. We passed through a beautiful grove of Dracophllum and Myrsine, festooned in sheets of gold and green lichen, with tiny orchids sprouting through the sphagnum moss. A couple of sea lions were also making good use of the boardwalk and it took some time to persuade them to let us past. The vegetation beside the boardwalk higher up was beautiful; wind-sculpted shrubs, Pleurophyllum daisies in flower, and all manner of interesting mosses, cushion plants, and shrubs. As the shrubland gave way to tussock, Southern Royal Albatross began to appear beside the track. At sea it is impossible to appreciate their true size, but when they are able to be scaled proportion to the plants around them, it is impossible not to be impressed by their sheer size and bulk. Most of the albatross were either building or sitting on nests. A few were courting, or ‘gamming' as it is called. This involves groups of between two and six young adults getting together on a windy hillside to splay their wings wide above three heads, tip their heads back to yodel at the sky, touch one another’s necks and beaks, and generally assess one another’s suitability as a mate. By the end of the afternoon thick mist over the saddle suddenly broke up, revealing magnificent landscapes and seascapes in all directions, including out towards Dent Island, the last refuge of Campbell Island Teal before the elimination of rats from the island.
After returning to the ship and having a beautiful dinner (choice of venison or chicken), we lifted anchor and cruised out of the harbour past Bull Rock and the magnificent cliffs and headlands of Perseverance Harbour, with their prolific attendant colonies of Campbell Albatross. Once again we returned to the big swells of the Southern Ocean.
Photo credit: C. Collins
Day 10: Sunday 10 December
At Sea to the Auckland Islands
Position 06:00 51° 42 S 167° 47 E / 18:00 50° 19 S 166° 22 E.
Wind nor’west 15 knots / swell 6 metres / air temperature 12° / water temperature 11°
The ship rolled and pitched all night and into today, with strong north-west head winds in spite of the sunny conditions. Adams Island of the Auckland Island group came into view at about 14:30. As we approached thousands of Sooty Shearwaters soared around the entrance to Carnley Harbour. Captain Dmitri eventually dropped anchor in the shelter of Tagua Bay, from where we were shuttled by Zodiac between ship and stony shore. From there we walked up through rata and Dracophyllum forest to an old coastwatchers’ hut and look-out, the former derelict, the latter well-conserved by the Department of Conservation. These facilities where staffed by young men during World War II, whose job was to keep a look-out for enemy shipping. In the event there was none, but the lookouts made the most of their time to study the plants, animals and natural history of the island and a number went on to become prominent scientists and naturalists.
Due to the presence of feral cats and pigs, the diversity and numbers of birds in the forest was reduced, but we saw Tui, Bellbird, tomtit and a glimpse of parakeets. Some of the rata trees near the bottom off the track looked truly ancient, their long branches grown right down to the ground and back up to the canopy again. For the sharp-eyed, a variety of tiny ground-orchids grew beside the track. We returned to the ship two hours later into the teeth of a screaming nor’west wind, spray flying around the Zodiacs. Time for the bar, a beautiful dinner and the luxury of falling asleep in calm waters….
Photo credit: C. Collins
Day 11: Monday 11 December
Carnley Harbour to Port Ross
Position 06:00 50° 99 S 166° 0 E / 18:00 46° 57 S 168° 12 E.
Wind nor’west 25 knots / swell 5 metres / air temperature 13° / water temperature 11°
During breakfast we set sail from Carnley Harbour at the bottom of the main island to Port Ross at the top, arriving in beautiful sunshine at around 09:30. Judd provided a briefing about the day, followed by Chris Todd talking about the history of the failed Hardwicke settlement. We started with a leisurely cruise around the basalt cliffs at the south-west corner of Enderby Island, remarkably sheltered compared to the choppy waters around the ship. Shags were busy recycling nesting material that had fallen from their colonies on the clifftops and ledges above down to the tidal rock ledges below. Pipits foraged around the shag nests for parasites while skuas harassed the sitting shags, attempting to frighten them off eggs and chicks. Down by the sea, tomtits fluttered about inside the sea-caves snatching insects from the crevices and Auckland Island Teal foraged in the tidal rock-pools, almost invisible against the bull-kelp unless they moved. Half a dozen Yellow-eyed Penguins stood motionless on rocky vantage points above their jump-out point. Around the corner at Sandy Bay, a number of female sea lions had arrived since our last visit, and formed a harem at the eastern end of the beach. However no pups where yet visible.
We returned to the ship amidst strong wind-gusts for a wonderful pizza lunch. Meanwhile the ship was repositioned and an hour later we were back in the Zodiacs visiting the failed colony of Hardwicke. This settlement has the distinction of being the shortest-lived British colony ever attempted, lasting only 2 1/2 years. We visited the small cemetery there with the graves of children from the colony and ship-wrecked sailors, one of whom had ‘died of starvation’. Perhaps the most poignant grave was that of the Hardwicke miller’s three month old daughter, whose headstone was carved from a stone grinding wheel, the square axle hole in the centre; useless in a place where it turned out to be impossible to grow wheat. Out on the point we discovered the remains of the colony’s old Oregon flagpole, complete with bolts, nails and the carved initials “M.J.O.”. It had split and fallen into three pieces. Back by the Zodiacs the rata was just coming into flower, Bellbirds and Tuis singing, the sun shining warmly. We felt very reluctant to leave the shore from this our last outing of the voyage.
At 5 pm we were all back on board and setting a course for Bluff, rolling heavily in a west-nor’west swell.
Photo credit: C. Collins
Day 12: Tuesday 12 December
At Sea to Bluff
Position 06:00 48° 75 S 167° 34 E / 18:00 46° 57 S 168° 12 E.
Wind nor’west 20 knots / swell 4 metres / air temperature 14° / water temperature 12°
We made better time overnight than expected and the wind and sea conditions eased throughout the morning. By 1 pm Stewart Island / Rakiura was in view and we were anchored in its lee by 15:00. This enabled us to enjoy a group photograph on the foredeck, sparkling wine on the house, an excellent celebratory dinner and wonderful photographic account of the trip assembled by Lisle from the staff’s best photographs. We all received a copy afterward to take home.
Day 13: Wednesday 13 December
Stewart Island to Bluff
The pilot was on board by 6 am guiding us into the Port of Bluff. By 08:30 we had cleared New Zealand customs and were on the dock shaking hands or hugging staff and our fellow passengers, now friends, farewell. From there we dispersed; our hearts, minds, and memory cards packed with unforgettable experiences of wildlife and wild places, new friendships made and old ones renewed.
