New Zealand’s Subantarctic Islands

 

In December 2015 I was awarded an Enderby Scholarship (these are now called True Young Explorer Scholarships) to travel onboard two Heritage Expeditions voyages to the subantarctic islands of Aotearoa New Zealand (Snares/Tini Heke, Auckland Islands/Maukahuka, and Campbell Island/ Motu Ihupuku), and Macquarie Island. These trip logs are from those voyages, between December 2015 and January 2016. In late 2016, I was on board once again in an internship role, and there are a few more blog posts about that journey on the “Birding Down Under” trip (the one I initially applied for in 2015!). This trip included the Antipodes, Bounties, and Chatham Islands/Rekohu.

I now occasionally work as a guide for Heritage Expeditions, but I keep these blog posts up as a record of my first experience of places that are now very close to my heart. These journeys kindled my love of seabirds, and are part of the reason I now work as a biologist!

---

Links:

Other places to find photos and impressions from subantarctic voyages! I’ve been fortunate to share adventures with some great photographers, storytellers, and birders. These are their experiences of the subantarctic islands:

Voyaging South – An amazing resource on the subantarctic islands by my friend and fellow scholarship recipient Liz. While she covers our whole trip, Voyaging South particularly focuses on Macquarie Island, which is part of Australia.

Southern Ocean – Trip reports by David Stowe, with some absolutely amazing photography.

New Zealand, the Subantarctic Islands, and Manila – A trip report by Ollie, who completed our trio of scholarship recipients on the first trip.

Enderby Island – A gallery of stunning photos from our Christmas hike on Enderby Island by Henry Cook.

Wildlight Trip Logs – A master post of all Dad’s photographic trip logs from the Subantarctic Islands in Focus voyage. My favourites are Snares Wildlife, Southern Royal Albatross, and Heading North.