Day 4 - 25/12/2015 : Auckland Islands (Enderby Island)
In case you missed it Part 1 is HERE
Woke up to celebrate the birth of Jesus anchored in the wonderfully sheltered Harbour of Sandy Bay, Enderby Island.
Merry Christmas!!
aww ...Henry even bought me a present ....
..oops....
knew i forgot something...
Very much missing seeing my girls opening their presents and being with them today.
Last night was interesting - Sleeping with your legs rising above your head and back again wasn't always easy but we survived.
The Auckland Islands are about 460km south of Bluff the largest of the five New Zealand sub-antarctic groups with Enderby being at the northern tip
We are also now into the 50 degree latitude!
The Auckland Islands are basically "the eroded and sea-flooded remains of two ancient volcanoes"* and have incredible diversity of plants and animals
Enderby has also been freed of the tyranny of introduced animals and the native wildlife abounds.
*from the book "Subantarctic New Zealand" by Neville Peat
Rodney's map drawing skills are pretty awesome i reckon
Henry, adorned in his finest Santa hat, (and matching red waterproof pants - which are awesome!) and I made it on the first Zodiac to the beach and were instantly rewarded with a pair of Auckland Island Teal right at our feet as we landed.
Such cute little birds and flightless too!
Tomtit and Pipit were also added to our trip list before we were told to move quickly on if we encountered a bull Hookers Sea Lion.
I'm no biologist but I'm pretty sure this one is a bull...
Laden with plenty of camera equipment and a packed lunch we set off on a 15km hike around the island.
Edit: have I mentioned the food yet? Seriously incredible what we have been eating. Even the packed sandwiches were gourmet self selected fillings of awesomeness.The little mini Snickers were a nice treat too.as were the mini Picnics....and Flakes and..
oh thats right ...
mmm the Fresh Fruit and healthy stuff!
incredible!
...apparently dinner tonight is 5 courses of Santa's finest cuisine!
The good news is that i haven't seen chef catch a Penguin yet
so things are looking good that the Turkey really will taste like Chicken
...pretty sure the bush won't hurt you as much as the angry new daddy sea lion Rodney
but hey
poke it with a stick...
In all seriousness, Rodney Russ, Heritage Expeditions founder and our Expedition Leader, did an incredible job of making everything happen.
I don't envy the responsibility he had of making calls on weather and landings and keeping everyone safe and happy, however he did it all.
Very thankful for his abilities, knowledge, and passion for this part of the world.
Also he gave me a free dream trip for taking a pretty photo so hey
no complaints here
We all walked up the middle of the island to the northern side along a boardwalk, where the group would divide into those wanting to simply walk back to the landing beach and watch the comings and goings of the sea lion colony, and those who wanted to complete a 12km walk around the coast.
However before we separated there was important business to attend to
Birding
and not just any birding, we went searching for the rare Subantarctic Snipe!
Go 'Team Bird'!
(more about them later)
You see I made this more about birding because the only photos I got were pretty awful
Most were of an out of focus brown rump disappearing into some sort of plant
Apparently the botanists were in heaven because the ground was actually an amazing field of rare megaherbs
ooh there's one!
a botanist that is
not a megaherb
This is Alex, one of the incredible Heritage guides we had onboard
He's awesome AND a botanist!
I lost track of the names because they're all latin.
I studied Latin at school for a few years but that was a very long time ago
Most of them I think were called:
"insert weird botanical name that sounds like a Harry Potter spell"...
to be honest it was more than my little birder brain could manage after just seeing a
Coenocorypha aucklandica
The pretty plant above is
Anisotome latifolia
Below is
Bulbinella rossii
thanks to Kate Kiefer one of my new friends from the Australian Antarctic Division for responding to my plea for the proper names before posting this
Otherwise they were going to be called Expecto Patronum and Riddikulus
Santa appearing to pee over the edge of a cliff framed by a field of Anisotome latifolia
(take that botany!)
Actually I don't think he's peeing
or Santa come to think of it...
oh its a lens!
my bad
Yes there is a joy today
But not just a humorous happiness
a deep joy
There is of course the wonder of Christmas
and what that means to me personally
but also the simple joy of wandering around an island in the middle of Nowhere filled with such colour and beauty it almost feels like the set of a fantasy movie
Northern Giant Petrels, a species I am familiar with seeing on pelagic birding trips against an austere ocean blue backdrop
now wheel around us over vibrantly coloured landscapes covered in plants
that look as though they are all made of candy.
Surreal
and indeed Wonderful in its purest definition
Random Giant Petrel chicks dotted the island, camouflaged in the open and seemingly popping up behind you like the villain in a pantomime
Apparently they can spit a horrible smelling fishy mucous at you from 5 metres away so best to keep your distance
And then there is more green
Such a saturated green in such a gorgeous little bird
The Red-fronted Parakeets were much more numerous and approachable than i had dared hope for.
From the orange, pink and green
we find a white coastline on the north east corner of Enderby where the Antarctic Terns mimic this starker landscape
Simply having a whole day on land has been part of the joy too
I'm feeling amazingly blessed that I haven't been sick yet (I'm normally always sea sick)
however having (mostly) hard ground under your feet
and the freedom to walk at our own pace and stop at will
is having a very positive effect on me
Not all of the walk is easy
Open grass and rocks gives way to thick tussock grass and hidden holes into which a number fell
At one stage we thought we were going to have to carry one of the party back with us after an awkward fall
We were always going to be the last group back to the waiting zodiac as "the photographers", however now we had a great excuse to be last
Another special bird that we were keen to see were the shags
Each island down here has its own similar yet distinct species and today we were presented with the Auckland Island Shag
Its purple eye striking against the black and white plumage
Nesting was in full swing and we have been entertained by the way they collect an absolute face full of tussock grass for their nests on the eroded cliff faces
Even the Brown Skuas were in full parental mode
even if it was in a much more aggressive sort of way
As wonderful as all these birds were
Today would once again be about the penguins
Yellow-eyed Penguins
Rarer than any other penguin species on the planet, these endangered birds are also quite shy
They don't hang out in big colonies and its not until you enter the beautiful Rata forest that their uniqueness and character is fully revealed
It's here in the forest that they find their own little space to nest
Out of sight of any other pairs under overhanging trees and behind bushes
they go about their business
Easily overlooked except for their raucous calls echoing through the forest
which kind of ruins the secrecy a bit
Also loved watching this little Tomtit balancing on a swaying vine
Animated GIF of a dozen frames shot in quick succession on the 1DX (quality not great in an effort to make it load a bit faster)
As we exit the mystical Rata forest we move back into the tussock grassland
Wildlife, habitats and weather continue to change
And finally we make it back to beach where the last zodiac is "patiently" waiting for us
...if it wasn't for that guy that fell over who we had to keep waiting for
we so would have been back sooner...
honestly
What a day
So much to see!
So many birds and amazing landscapes
And now we celebrate with an incredible 5 course Christmas dinner courtesy of the amazing chefs Connor and Andy
We even got presents and a chocolate on our pillows!
I miss Amy and the kids terribly
My first Christmas away from them
And yet the joy of this day is still great
There is light today
Merry Christmas
