Exploring Enderby Island
- Rediscovering New Zealand: An Expedition to the Subantarctic and South Island Adventures
- Our Adventure Begins in Queenstown
- A Day Trip to The Remarkables and Glenorchy
- Te Anu and Milford Sound
- An Overnight Cruise in Doubtful Sound with Fiordland Expeditions
- Our "Galapagos of the Southern Ocean" Expedition Officially Begins
- Embarkation Day: Setting Sail for New Zealand's Subantarctic Islands
- Navigating Rough Seas at the Snares
- A Day in the Auckland Islands
- Discovering Macquarie Island
- A Glorious Day at Sandy Bay
- Christmas at Sea and the Wonders of Campbell Island
- Exploring Enderby Island
- A Surprise Second Shot at the Snares
- From Disembarkation to Dunedin
- A Heli-hike on the Tasman Glacier in Aoraki/Mt. Cook
- Lake Tekapo Weather Woes
- Chasing Dusky Dolphins in Kaikoura
- Hiking the Abel Tasman Coast Track (well, part of it)
The day dawned with perfect weather at Sandy Bay on Enderby Island, part of the Auckland Islands.
Today’s activities included three options:
- Enderby Circuit: An 11km all-day hike around the island, complete with lunch and a ‘poo bag’ kit.
- Northern Cliff Boardwalk and Sandy Bay: A 6km full-day hike, also requiring a poo bag.
- Morning Zodiac Cruise and Afternoon Walk: This option involved a Zodiac cruise from 9 to 11 AM, followed by a 6km walk through Sandy Bay and along the northern cliffs in the afternoon—sans poo bag.
Opting for the latter, our morning Zodiac cruise was spectacular. Enderby Island is home to about a third of the world’s population of yellow-eyed penguins, and we were treated to sightings of these charming creatures seemingly basking in the sunshine.
Another highlight of the zodiac cruise was spotting a Falcon, though it was too far away to capture a good photo.
We must have mis-heard the footwear instructions, so given the planned afternoon walk, we work our hiking shoes rather than muckboots. It turned out to be a wet landing followed by a muddy walk to the briefing site and our shoes got absolutely filthy. Our route took us through ‘Penguin Alley,’ where penguins typically travel from sea to forest. Although we were instructed to move quickly to avoid disturbing the penguins, there were none to be seen at the time.
The beach along our path hosted a bustling sea lion rookery, filled with dominant males, numerous females, and over a hundred pups. Despite the impressive numbers, the view from our vantage point above was limited.
We then crossed the island to an albatross colony, stopping along the way to photograph the vibrant megaherbs. The albatross were perched on a cliff, and with the sun not ideally positioned, we retraced our steps across the island seeking a better angle for photos.
Just as we returned to Penguin Alley, we overheard an exciting call on one of the expedition team’s radios: “Two hoiho exiting the water!” We watched the two yellow-eyed penguins waddle up the beach and then into the forest, a perfect end to our explorations.
Back on the ship, Andy tried to remove the mud and seaweed from our shoes so they would be cleaned and dried for disembarkation in two days time. New Zealand customs is notoriously thorough, especially when you’ve been in a wilderness area, so Andy’s thorough cleaning meant our shoes were completely soaked (though squeaky clean). One of the crew offered to put them in the hot engine room. Meanwhile I googled shoe stores in Dunedin as a backup plan.
After a day under the sun, both of us sported what might have been a slight sunburn—or perhaps it was just a lingering ‘penguin glow’ from our close encounters with the island’s charismatic wildlife.
Next Up — A Surprise Second Shot at the Snares
