02 Dec 2022

Cruising the coasts of Campbell Island

With a blustery start to the morning on Campbell Island, our first group of walkers peeled away from Heritage Adventurer in their Zodiacs off on the long walk to North West Bay.

Those who opted to do the shorter walk headed up past Beeman Hill to Col Lyall to spend the day amongst the megaherbs and Southern Royal Albatross, while those braving the winds to explore the coastline of Perseverance Harbor were joined by playful Hooker's/New Zealand Sea Lions, inquisitive Campbell Island Teal and EVEN spotted a Pacific Golden Plover.

Rafting our Zodiacs up in Tucker Cove, Chris and Aaron shared the fascinating history of the island including stories about the farmers, whalers, Coastwatchers' and Met service staff who have all spent time here.

After lunch the Zodiac cruisers joined those spending the day at Col Lyall to marvel in the vegetation and the wildlife that abounds here including the flowering Hebe benthamii, and the several species of Pleurophyllum that made use of the sheltered spots along the ridge.

The star of the show was of course the Southern Royal Albatross, grateful of the winds they gracefully wheeled overhead, broke into gamming groups by the boardwalk and sat on their nests mesmerising us for hours.

Image by (C) Heritage Expeditions