21 Dec 2021

The Wild Wild South

Heritage Expeditions second Galapagos of the Southern Ocean voyage of the season set off from Bluff to outrun some wild weather. With forecasted 50-knot windspeeds and up to 7-metre waves our Captain Pruss steamed Spirit of Enderby to the shelter of Port Ross in the Auckland islands.

Escaping the worst of it thanks to our talented captain, Mother Nature would then give us another taste while exploring the failed agriculture and whaling settlement of Hardwicke with a brief hail, thunder and lightning display - summer in the Southern Ocean. Grateful of the thick canopy of beautiful red flowering Rata trees above we waited out the 10 minutes it took for the sun to re-emerge.

Then, during the Zodiac cruise back to our trusty expedition vessel the heavens opened again, but given we were so entranced observing four Hoihoi (Yellow-eyed Penguins) hunting fish as Antarctic Terns hovered above waiting to take their share while a Hooker's/New Zealand Sea Lion followed in our wake we barely noticed the minor inconvenience.

Image from file © K.Riedel, Heritage Expeditions