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The sea between the last stop and the next group of islands is relatively calm, but still a full day apart. Most of the sailing is done overnight,  removing all notion of the distance. The continuing lectures and excellent meals also help distract from the travel between stops. Later in the trip this would be different, but for now there is enough to keep the passengers entertained.

Second on the list of stops is the Auckland Islands group, and more specifically, Enderby Island. Little did we know that this was going to be a special stop for two fellow passengers. During the night one female passenger fell down, injuring her shoulder seriously enough to require an airlift to New Zealand’s mainland. Where the island groups is only just withing range of rescue helicopters, it takes two pilots, one medic and a fuel stop on Enderby Island to get the lady and her companion back to the South Island.

Upon arrival on the Island, hundreds of Hooker seals were there to greet us. These curious animals look intimidating, but as this was the island that the Department of Conservation’s representative lived on for some time, she was able to provide some simple advise to keep them at distance: Keep your backpack in your hand in front of you. Where this sounds easy, the male seals are big enough to make anyone doubt if this will do the trick. Turns out, it did…

From the small beach where we ‘landed’ there was a nice path running all the way to the other side of the island and back. The path ran past some interesting sights, like a Norther giant petrel’s nest. A recently hatched chick was patiently waiting for its parents to bring food. It wasn’t just the wildlife that was special here. Just like several other islands that we were about to see, Enderby Island is covered in vegetation that takes forever to get where it is now. Not only are the plant species rare, they are also slow growing. As a result, you won’t find any tall trees on the island. All plants come up to my waist and it has taken dozens, if not hundreds of years to get that far. By the time we got to the other side of the island, both weather and shores have become a lot more rugged. Wind has picked up and the temperature has gone down. The high cliffs break the waves with loud noise and lots of splashes. Endemic cormorants take advantage of this roughness that keeps away predators. We take a few minutes to watch the wildlife and scenery before heading back.

Back on the beach, a next surprise awaits us: Yellow-eyed penguins return from a fishing trip. With these birds being incredibly shy, the first two pairs of penguins refuse to come on shore. Whether the noisy seals or us is keeping the seals away will always be a mystery, but eventually (after some hours of waiting) some did come on shore. For me this means two things: Tick-off penguin number 10 of 17 and more importantly, and a good laugh when one of the birds trips over a piece of kelp laying around on the beach.

Seeing the penguins marked the end of our stay on this island. Not a bad thing as the weather isn’t getting any better. It is not raining yet, but that is a matter of time. It is just a couple of hundred meters on a Zodiak, taking just a few minutes to reach the warm tea and coffee. Well before dinner we are back on board. Now that we have seen more wildlife and the passengers get to know each other, conversation during dinner is more lively than the days before. With two days of sailing to the next port of call ahead, we can look forward to sharing more stories and photos with fellow passengers.

In the next post, the most southern island, Macquarie Island.