25 Mar 2021

Cliff Notes from Pitt and Mangere Islands

Following a hearty breakfast it's time to board our Zodiacs and cruise the rugged coastline of Pitt Island, New Zealand's easternmost inhabited island. Its towering volcanic cliffs are pocked with sea-worn caves and one man-made one at Smuggler's Cove, the rendezvous point for Pitt Island's famed tobacco and rum smuggling operation. We explore its sandy beach imagining the clandestine transactions as Pitt Island Shags disappear below of the silvery surface of impossibly blue water.

Arriving at Flower Pot Bay, the geological namesake feature long gone, it's a short drive to Caravan Bush Reserve where our meander through predator free native bush reveals Chatham Island Pigeon, Warbler, Tui, Fantails and numerous Tomtit against a stunning ocean backdrop.

After lunch on board Spirit of Enderby we're back out in the Zodiacs, this time cruising the coastlines of Mangere and Little Mangere Islands as the jagged outlines of literally named outcrops the Sail and Castle loom in the distance. The sheer stone cliffs of the sibling islands dwarf our small fleet of Zodiacs and we are fortunate to have Rod Morris who, along with one of Heritage Expeditions' founders Rodney Russ, was involved in bringing the Chatham Island Black Robin back from the brink of extinction.

It's a rare privilege to hear Rod speak about his involvement in this world leading conservation effort where it happened, and even point out the route he took when scaling the cliffs to relocate these tiny birds at this remote corner of the globe while seals lounge on the rocks and Buller's Albatross wheel in the sky above.

Image (c) I.Wilson, Heritage Expeditions