22 Oct 2021

Exploring Puysegur Point and Tarawera Smelter

Our great run of weather continued in Fiordland today with clear and calm conditions from moonset to sunset. First order of business this morning was Puysegur Point, site of one of New Zealand's most infamous weather stations and historic lighthouses. Our coastal amble along this remote shoreline was stunning and accompanied by the gentlest of waves lapping the shore at low tide. Arriving at the Lighthouse we enjoyed sprawling views from Solander to Chalky Islands, across the mountains and out to the Tasman Sea.

Returning to Heritage Explorer we enjoyed a delicious lunch and refresh before venturing ashore at the Tarawera Smelter, a memorial to enthusiasm and unrealised dreams set among a beautifully regenerating forest. With calm weather we sailed for Chalky Inlet with a later afternoon opportunity to walk through the forests and listening to the chorus of birdsong including some great views of Yellowhead and South Island Robins.

Image from file, © Heritage Expeditions