All at sea for 2 days en-route to Macquarie Island

Days 7-8.  Friday & Saturday 17-18^th  January – At sea en-route to Macquarie Island

Noon position: Latitude 51^o13.226 South; Longitude 165^o49.090 East           

Air temperature: 8^oC, Water temperature: 11^oC

Once we had left the shelter of Adams Island and Carnley Harbour the sea became very rough and this worsened as we made our way towards Macquarie, a journey of 360 nautical miles. By mid-morning we were experiencing 7-8 m high waves which often broke over the bow and bridge windows. The horizon came and went as the Spirit of Enderby handled the viridian coloured sea at 7 knots in a 20-35 knot south-westerly.

 We spent most of the time on our bunks dozing, reading, listening to my IPod (music or Science show) or doing Sudoku (Drew) or cryptic crosswords (both). We struggled up to the Bridge several times a dayto see the view of the sea from horizon to horizon with huge waves, hand over hand on the staircase balustrades, holding onto the railings along the corridors and then bracing ourselves against the instrument cabinets when we got there. Drew went for one tumble, flying from one side of the Bridge to the other when the ship lurched. Several other people had falls but nothing serious luckily. We learned to move only during the lulls between the big waves. It was worth being on the bridge to see the magnificent albatrosses, including a large Wanderer which stayed around the ship, taking advantage of the air currents to glide up and down the waves with its wing tips gently brushing the surface. Several pods of hour glass dolphins were sighted. By 7p.m the chart showed us that we were over 4000 m of water. Somehow the galley still managed to provide lunch and dinner for the few of us still with an appetite. 

Albatross

Photo: Katya Ovsyanikova:       Hour glass dolphins

Saturday 18 January Noon position: Latitude 53^o 13.207 South; Longitude 161^o 29.9 East           

Air temperature: 9^oC, Water temperature: 10^oC. Fog, with occasional light rain.

The next day was a bit calmer below a blanket of cloud. With better conditions the ship was doing 11.2 knots. At 8am we were over the Emerald Basin with a water depth of 3700-4000 meters There were fewer birds since they like the rough seas, with a lone Wanderer keeping us company. Rodney announced that our ETA (estimated time of arrival) for Macquarie Island was 9 pm and that the latest ice map indicated clear water which should benefit our entry to the Ross Sea and McMurdo Sound. Kerry Packer’s yacht, Arctic P, from Hobart carrying 12 passengers and a crew of 25, had just left Macquarie Is.

Other bird life we saw included (in addition to several species of albatross), Northern Giant Petrel, Cape (Pintado), White-headed, White-chinned and Mottled Petrels. We were still over the Emerald Plateau with water about 4000 m deep and the ship rolling to 10 degrees. At noon we had 104.4 miles to go. At 4.30 Rodney gave an excellent lecture on Macquarie Island, covering history, geology (the island sits on the Australian/Pacific plate boundary), wildlife, pest eradication and the landings we hoped to do over the next few days. We were fortunate to have retired NZ geologist, Jane Fergusson, as a passenger, who told us more about the origin of the iron and magnesium rich (ultramafic) rocks that had formed about six kilometres under the Earth’s mantle and have been pushed up; one of the few examples in the world of oceanic crust above water.

Excitement mounted in the Bridge as we debated how far off we would be able to see our first landfall for several days. The misty rain did not help, and when we eventually made it out through the mist at about 7 pm, its cliffs were already looming quite high in the sky. The strong westerly wind did not allow us to anchor safely inshore so the ship steamed up and down the coast all night, while we slept. 

Coastwatchers of Carnley Harbour - Auckland Island

Day 6. Thursday 16 January – Auckland Island

Noon position: Latitude 50^o48.80’South; Longitude 160^o04’East

Air temperature: 12.1^oC, Water temperature: 11^oC

Next morning  went out on deck to enjoy our entry into deep Carnley Harbour, which is the caldera of the ancient Carnley volcano that encompassed Auckland Island on the north and Adam Island on the south . The Harbour continues getting narrower until there is only a narrow dangerous exit on the western side. The westerly wind made the sea choppy and we were treated to seeing large numbers of Shearwaters. The sun lit up the hillsides and vegetation with red-flowering Rata on the lower slopes leading to the yellow-brown of the tussock grasses above. Shelves of black volcanic rock stood out. We anchored in Tagua Bay (the centre of the volcano), off Musgrave peninsular, .  Adams Island is a complete reserve with no landings allowed except for research.

From the human history perspective, this is an interesting locality. Historic sites include the remains of the Grafton (1864) along with remains of the rock-walled hut (Epigwaitt,  the ‘house by the sea’); near the southern end of Coleridge Bay, where there was a castaway hut linked to the Anjou (1905); finger posts for directions to castaway depots; at the head of North Arm, the ‘Erlangen clearing’ where Rata was felled for fuel by crew of the Erlangen (1939) and coast-watcher huts from the Cape Expedition (World War 2).

Two parties went ashore today. The first group of twenty two led by Rodney to bush-bash and wade through tussock and fell fields to the summit of Hill 360(m). The hill was surveyed by coast watchers during World War 2. 

The hill climbing party had a challenging but rewarding trip. It took around four hours to reach the top of the hill. Initially they had to bush bash, threading their way through the dense scrub, but were rewarded with sightings of Yellow-crowned Parakeets. Clare reported that on “one had to be a contortionist, as you clambered over and under bushes”. However on reaching the tussock, the going was no easier with Stephen saying “because of the peat beneath the tussock, it was a challenge to find suitable foot placement”. Once past the tussock, low scrub was encountered. On finally arriving at the top they were rewarded with five nesting Gibson’s Wandering Albatross and excellent views, included the site where the Erlangen crew cleared Rata forest. In addition this group also saw lots of  plants including - Damnamenia; Helichrysum bellidioides; Bulbinnela rossi; Astelia subulata and orchids Lyperanthus antarcticus, Aporostylis bifola and Corybas spec. It only took two hours to descend and all were back on the ship by 4pm. (We could see the climbers looking like coloured ants)

We had had enough of tussocks on Enderby Island so took the less strenuous option of hiking from the landing place to visit the remains of the coast-watchers No.2 station huts; then to continue to the restored Coast-watchers well-concealed look-out. From there was a commanding view through the trees to the entrance of Carnley Harbour. 

 Remains of huts in the forest

 Reconstructed Coastwatchers lookout hut

We also were excited to spot some Bell birds, 

green-hood orchids Thelymitra longifolia (below left)and 

club moss Lycopodium varium (below right), but no introduced pests such as mice, cats or pigs. 

We arrived back to the ship for a late salad and nachos lunch and leisurely afternoon, feeling sorry for the hill climbing party as the weather had deteriorated with wind gusting up to 30 knots along with rain and spells of light hail.

This evening our chefs provided a superb meal starting with an entreè of antipasto which included fresh salmon, mussels, prawns, cheese, olives and sundried tomato. For the main course we had the choice of pork belly or lamb rack both of which were superb (or a vegetarian option). The desert was a coconut pancetta with fruit compote. The chefs were very good and ensuring at least one of the mains was gluten free for the two ‘serious’ coeliacs, although we mostly had to forgo the lovely deserts, mostly getting by on stewed or fresh fruit.

Katya held the species list meeting then everyone retired to prepare themselves for two days of rough seas en route to Macquarie Island.

After our last peaceful night's sleep for a while, we woke to a bleak day with rain and the sun trying valiantly to shine through.

  

The anchor was lifted at 7 am next morning and by 8 am with breakfast over we were heading out of Carnley Harbour. Once we had left the shelter of Adams Island the sea became very rough, 

 The gusts of wind were strong enough to blow a waterfall UP the cliff face! (see below)

Albatross, Megaherbs, Penguins and Sealions on Enderby Island

Day 5. Wednesday 15 January – Enderby Island

Noon position: Latitude 50^o30.46’South; Longitude 166⁰16.85’East

Air temperature: 11^oC, Water temperature: 12^oC

We had an early start today beginning with a wake-up call from Agnes at 6.15. 
After breakfast we had the usual pre-shore visit briefing, then lunch making with an excellent selection of fillings. We landed at Enderby Island on Sandy Bay. Two huts used by parties which annually record the New Zealand (Hookers) Sea Lion population were on high ground nearby. Simon Childerhouse of Blue Planet Marine, the organisation contracted by NZ Dept. of Conservation, told us what his team would be doing over the next few weeks. About 270 pups have been born on this beach this season to 250 females. This is the lowest tally since the 1980’s with a 50% reduction over the last two years. Males totalled 140-180 with the large dominant ‘beach-masters’ around 12-15 years old.

We had a choice of two walks – one on the boardwalk across the island and back; the other that would take us around the end of the island and back to Sandy Bay.  

Drew and I opted to do the longer walk which started on the board walk across the island, through the gnarled Southern Rata covered in crimson flowers into heathland. About midway along the board walk, a magnificent male Southern Royal Albatross was sitting on its nest, a raised mound of mud and vegetation. Rodney told us that there are 60 pairs of Southern Royal Albatross on Enderby Island. This one was so quiet and regal, presumably used to the hordes of people clustering around pointing cameras at it. 

The boardwalk ended at the southern shore overlooking jagged black cliffs to the sea crashing below, with long strands of bull kelp writhing in the surf. 





Those of us heading around the island then threaded our way through the hummocky tussock grass and mega herbs. The yellow Bulbinella rossi lily had mostly finished flowering but we were treated to a large area of pink Anisotome antipoda celery relative.  At one stage, Rodney said, only two celery plants remained on the island but since eradication of cattle and rabbits, the mega herbs have rejuvenated. 

Bulbine lily (above) and celery family  below

Some twitchers were successful at flushing out a very shy endemic Auckland Island Snipe along with many very tame Pipits that were almost underfoot.


Further on we stopped to enjoy a small colony of Light-Mantled Sooty Albatross nesting among lots of Auckland Island Shags (cormorants) on the edge of the cliff. Nearby was an area of bare sloping soil on that looked like the take of ramp for the albatross.

Dr Eric managed to find some Red-crowned parakeets in some tea trees at the edge of the forest, We got a good look at several Yellow-eyed Penguins sitting on nests on the grass a little way inland, and others were preening themselves on the rocks. They are 2-3 times the size of our fairy penguins. Small brown endemic flightless  Teal were seen near a small stream,. A skua was sitting on his/her nest right out in the open grass behind the rock platform. Near Teal Lake, the remains of a number of Prions probably represented a ‘Skua larder’. The cliffs became lower as we rounded the westerly end.  Just off the pebble beach on the north side were more long strings of bull kelp that writhed and seethed in the swell like Medusa’s serpent tresses.

Pushing our way through the tussocks (with gentians and some megaherbs - Macquarie cabbage - growing in between) was quite tiring and we were wishing that the walk had been a few kilometers of tussocks shorter! 

There was also the additional unwanted excitement of not knowing whether we would suddenly disturb a sleeping sea lion hiding among the tussocks. In fact several times we had to skirt around them, and once we had to retreat hastily (but not run) from an over-friendly? young male that was heading for us.

Finally we got back to Sandy Bay beach, where we could enjoy watching and photographing the antics of the Sea Lions. 

There were at least two groups of different-aged pups in crèches of 50-60 pups, watched over by a couple of females to keep the males at bay. The older pups were playing chasings and tussling like children. Some older sub-adult males were also sparring with each other. The rest of the females were just lounging around. 

  

Brown Skuas (‘angels of death’) hovering around, waiting for a young pup to stray from the crèche.

When coming to fetch us back to the ship the zodiacs were delivering drums of helicopter fuel that had to be rolled up the beach for later pick up.  It was wet gumboots in the surf for some getting back into the zodiacs.

Thankfully it was another calm evening at anchor with a subtle pink stormy sunset. 


We raised the anchor at 3 am to motor further south to anchor in Carnley Harbour on the south end of Auckland Island.