14 Jan 2020

Visiting Lake Hinemoa

We began our morning with an early start and a hearty breakfast at 06:30 in anticipation for a busy morning of activities. Moderate winds welcomed us into Musgrave Inlet, a long bay on the eastern side of Auckland Island which is home to Eastern Rockhopper Penguins and nesting Light-Mantled Sooty Albatross. We cruised in the Zodiacs along the shoreline, taking time to watch and photograph the charismatic penguins up close as they hopped out of the mega-herbs down to the rocks below.

We then crossed the bay to explore an incredible cave system, one with an opening above with overhanging Rata, the other a seemingly endless cave with very limited visibility.

Continuing our journey deeper into Musgrave Inlet we landed the zodiacs on the shallow beach at the very end of the fjord. Our expedition leader, Nathan, lead us on a hike to Lake Hinemoa, a seldom visited freshwater lake a kilometre inland. The dense and twisting Rata forest proved to be difficult terrain to navigate as we pushed through vegetation and crossed small streams to find our way. We all arrived at Lake Hinemoa after an hour for some well deserved rest and a view overlooking a beautiful cascading waterfall feeding the lake in the distance. The wind picked up for the remainder of the morning as we returned to the Spirit of Enderby in challenging conditions with strong wind gusts. Our afternoon lunch was a welcome reward for an adventurous morning in the New Zealand Subantarctic.

As we set to depart the Auckland Islands, we first took the ship into Carnley Harbour, the volcanic caldera which is evidence of the archipelago's historic formation. We watched from the outside decks as huge flocks of Sooty Shearwaters guided us in and then out of the caldera as we set course for our next destination, Macquarie Island of the Australian Subantarctic.

Image © N.Russ, Heritage Expeditions