Dunedin

Finally we had the weather to leave Stewart Island for Dunedin. We left fairly early which meant we had a 4 m swell to begin with but we managed to keep the wind all the way to Tairoa Head. A couple of boats had left a bit later and found themselves with the same swell but lighter winds. Luckily by the time the wind died we had lost the swell and we could still sail. At Tairoa Head we could see some of the albatross ashore and also fur seals and sealions (why did we go to the subantarctic again?!). We waited for the tide at Carey's Bay and drifted down the rest of the way under jib accompanied by dolphins. We tied up in the Otago Yacht Club basin along with 'Sula' and 'Stokes' who had come up from Stewart Island at the same time. Dunedin put on some great weather (to the locals who tried to claim its always like this I used to live here remember!). Sunday was the great washing day for all three boats, the marina machine getting a workout. It was good to catch up with some friends in Dunedin and I also called in to the department. The OYC is nicely in walking distance of the University and town. When we had finished the bits we needed to do in Dunedin and the weather was starting to look good we returned to Carey's Bay admiring the fog which was rolling down the harbour (we managed to avoid the worst of it). Unfortunately the forecast SW winds didn't really eventuate and the engine saw quite a bit of use as we headed further north. The calm seas were a very nice change however! Saw large groups of both Dusky and Hector's dolphins, the Dusky dolphins putting on quite a jumping and splashing performance. After a brief stop in Lyttleton we continued on to the Marlborough Sounds and are looking forward to relaxing in the Nelson/Marlborough region, hopefully catching the last of the summer (touch wood!).

Campbell Island

Arrival at Campbell Island



The old Met Station wharf with Elenya anchored off in the distance


Royal albatross on take off



Elephant seals, the photos doesn't show the true size of these guys (or the smell and sound of them belching and gurgling!).



View of Preservation Harbour



Albatross prints dwarfing Jim's size 11s!



Jim was surprised to find these guys at the top of a ridge!



Two royal albatross greeting each other

Royal albatross and chick

Dawn as we depart Campbell Island

Enderby Island

Enderby Island is an island in the north of the Auckland Islands group. A DoC sealion team were on the island and helped us get ashore and gave us some tips for dealing with the sealions which were a bit 'friendly' at times


The 'Stella' hut, built as a shelter for potential castaways.

Juvenile yellow-eyed penguin

One of the 'friendly' sealions!

Some of the mega-herbs with Elenya in the background

Sealion covered beach! The darker coloured ones are the males but all the really big bulls had departed by the time we were there as the breeding season was over.

Cute sealion pups playing!

Photos of the Auckland Islands

Our first spot ashore on Auckland Island was to visit the site of Hardwicke at Erebus Cove. The graveyard shown has graves of both settlers who attempted to found a whaling/farming community and shipwrecked sailors.

This tree, known as the Victoria tree, was carved by a search party to let any castaways know that people had been looking for them. This search was prompted by the 'Grafton' castaways who modified their ships boat and sailed it to Invercargill after nearly 2 years on the island.

Going ashore to walk up to Lake Hinemoa I was checked out by another landing party!

Lake Hinemoa. The photo doesn't show it but there were sealions swimming in the lake.

Rockhopper penguins in Haskell Inlet. Love the tufted crests! I did a dinghy paddle past here while Jim motored the yacht outside of the kelp.

Just a bit of kelp on the anchor! When we got this lot free it created a small island for a seagull to perch on

Elenya anchored off the remains of the 'Grafton'. It was fascinating to have read what these guys went through and to acctually visit the site where they were wrecked. The site of hut they built is just inshore of the wreck

Carnley Harbour at the south of Auckland Island. Note all the sooty shearwaters in the photo.

Relaxing down below with a glass of fine wine.

White-capped molymawks nesting at South West Cape

We thought it might be late in the year for chicks but when one stood up I had the pleasant surprise of seeing a very large chick which had previously been hidden under the parent molymawk.

The birds were wheeling and flying around overhead.

Jim in Hanfield Inlet, we stayed here on the boat for a few days while we waited for the SE to go away (not that it did!). A beautiful spot with waterfalls, sealions keeping us awake at night and light-mantled sooty albatross soaring above the cliffs.

Weather

From Campbell Island we took a detour to Stewart Island as we weren't sure that we would make Dunedin before some strong northerlies which were forecast. Our plan was to hang out in Paterson Inlet until the wind went round to the SW and then head off. Well the wind has now gone SW, unfortunately that is SW 40 (going NW 40 going SW 40) so we won't be going north for a few days anyway! We have had some stunning sunny days here although now it is colder with rain interspersed with the sun. Have been
relaxing, drying the boat, doing odd jobs and a bit of socialising in Kidney Fern - a very sheltered anchorage.

Back in the sun

We have arrived back in the land of the sun and are enjoying a few days relaxing. We had a pretty quick trip up from Campbell Island if not a tad sloppy at times. We will be off again this weekend on our way to Dunedin. A quick look at our email and blog shows a few comments and we should be able to get back to all. I also note that our position indicating map has not been updating since we left Auckland Islands to go to Campbell. I will endeavor to fix this. We have some good photo's (well we think
so!!) and will post some in Dunedin.