From Cape to cape. Expeditions by land and sea.

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But the evening was magic.There were only half a dozen out on deck as it was bitterly cold.but nature excelled itself-

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Now you weren't thinking there would be only one post of sunset photos were you.

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Still going-

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Although I didn't see the sun go down this was one of the most enjoyable sunsets I have experienced.However time was going by and the recap and briefing had started.Only 2 of us left but we decided it was time to go inside.So the last of this sunset-

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Saturday morning and inside the bay it was perfect.The swell had gone so it was decided to do another trip to the king penguin colony.My decision yesterday in retrospect was right.Although a perfectly fine day it was really cold.

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This will give you some idea of the cold-

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So off on the hike-

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On Friday afternoon the geologist gave a fun filled lecture on the shape of rocks.I thought this looked like a baboon head.He didn't agree.
So maybe Donald trump?

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OK I give up.But then another cutie caught my eye-

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Our marine biologist reckoned this one was female with all the followers.She lapped it up.

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Meanwhile this little fellow was having fun.A thin layer of ice on the water so he was going under the ice,raising his head and cracking it-

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Time to say goodbye to the seals-

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then came one of those magic interactions with animals.The fur seals took great delight in charging me.Not dangerous but exasperating.This fellow came and stood beside me for a while and the around to my other side-

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I thought he was indicating that I should follow him so I did.He proceeded to move everyone out of the way including humans-

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So for the next 500 metres he dealt with all the seals.He left when I was insight of the destination and seal free.

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A very special moment in time.

 

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To the colony-

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But it isn't all easy in penguin land.This fellow has a smug look-

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Because he has just dispatched a chick-

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His mate visits an old kill-

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Time to leave.

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avoiding the penguin poo-

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On the way back the seals kept their distance.Arrived just as a zodiac arrived but as usual I missed it by one-

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So watched the penguins come ashore-

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A lovely morning and a good lunch and at 1400 we set sail for Tristan da Cunha.The signs were not good but we were all hoping.The next 3.5 days were with seas 4-6 metres + strong winds.But with good company at meals and some interesting lectures the time went quickly.So what did I photograph.Silly question.

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We awoke on Thursday morning with much gentler seas.The birds were about-

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However we soon got the message that we were headed to Gough island as it had shelter from the prevailing winds.It soon made an appearance-

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We anchor off Gough Island.Plenty of interesting rocks-

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There were lots of birds on the water after we anchored-

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There was a good reason for all those birds to be close to the ship-

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Yes all the crew were fishing.And they caught a lot of 5 band snapper so it was fresh fish for dinner.The birds didn't mind how close the zodiacs got-

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Now there was a very loud American lawyer on the cruise who had come to see the 19th species of penguin-the northern rockhopper which inhabits the Tristan group of islands.Little did she realise that my seeing the chinstrap penguin also got me to 18 species.And in a coincidence we were on the same zodiac.And here is the little fellow-

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My simple comment that that was my 19th species as well went down predictably.So more of the wildlife-

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And now some of the rocks-

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The giant petrels had some interesting behaviour.Sitting on the surface of the water they would rear up then crash their head into the water-

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The seals were also playing-

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The penguins were staying put-

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Whilst I enjoyed it all-

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Even on this remote islands there were problems-this seal has a plastic bag eating into his hide-

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But there were other seals-

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The ship waits-

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On this beach there had been a British research station in the 40s and 50s.what we didn't know was that Shackelton had landed here on his way to South Georgia and in the 50s Prince Phillip landed here-

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Now more rock formations including the remains of a lava tube of the beach-

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A waterfall and other natural beauty-

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