Sub Antarctic Expedition arrives

Posted by Andrew on February 17, 2014

Smooth sailing to the Sub Antarctic - the expedition has landed!
Day 7 blog – by Isabella Brown

At 9.00am Sunday, the HMNZS Wellington arrived in the Sub-Antarctic Islands, anchoring in a bay close to Enderby Island. After warnings of tsunami type waves, which would leave us clinging to the sides of our beds with chunder buckets at the ready, we were pleasantly surprised to realise we had all slept soundly through the night. The smooth sailing past Stewart Island, and then all the way through to the Auckland Islands, meant that we were able to keep to time well and we would in fact have an entire day ashore on Enderby Island. 
 
As it was a Sunday, the crew had the luxury of sleeping in to 7.50am. However, the excitement of reaching our destination meant that most of the Sir Peter Blake Trust team was already up and about, with wet weather gear on, ready for whatever the day had in store for us.
 
After squeezing into dry suits, helmets and life jackets, we piled in to Zodiacs and zoomed towards shore. There we met up with a group of scientists from the University of Otago science department, who had travelled down on the research vessel Polaris.
 
First up on the island, we got the opportunity to see a hut used many years ago by shipwrecked sailors. The hut was triangular and made up of slim planks with bricks placed inside. It was a reminder of how unforgiving the islands can be, and a place where living would be harsh and deadly. After this we set off on a walk around the island and that was when I spotted my first albatross, up close, and it was huge. This sighting really hit home and it reminded me of why I was on this voyage, as well as why we need to protect these magnificent birds.

A briefing by DoC staff, before we set off for Enderby Island, educated us on how to behave in close encounters with the sea lions that we would see on our walk around the island, and it was a briefing that proved to be extremely useful. On multiple occasions, a playful sea lion’s curiosity meant that stand-offs took place, in the full knowledge that running was not an option.  These meetings were a highlight of my journey so far, although my heart was racing when they looked like they were going to have a nip of my leg, Being less then an arms reach away from these amazing creatures was truly special.

Other incredible Enderby highlights included our first sighting of mega herbs, a backwards waterfall, different types of penguins, giant petrels, and parakeets. The one low light of this trip was the multitude of biddy bids we all returned home with and then had to tediously pick off one by one from our boots and clothing before we could head inside for dinner and a hot shower.