Well a new day bought excellent weather and an opportunity to land. Something that many cruise visitors can't do. The island also was perfectly clear, another occasional event also. Most of the island is a volcano, with just small areas suitable for habitation...
...from above this is even more apparent.
Landings commenced at 7:00 am, but we were in the last group...
...time to admire the island..
...and the birds, this a sooty albatross...
Eventually we made it to land, even in these conditions 3 people were washed out of a zodiac while trying to board from the ship.
There were lots of fishing boats around the harbour. The island's main income is from fishing and crayfish.
We passed the small supermarket and picked up some crayfish sandwiches...
...checked out the local handicrafts..
...did the tourist pose...
...visited the cafe..
...one of the 2 churches..
...passed through the village..
..to the start of a walk up the side of the volcano which erupted in 1961 and resulted in all the inhabitants being evacuated to the UK for 2 years
This walk provided excellent views over the settlement..
...and the chance to sample the endemic berry, didlee dee
More views coming down...
...including a sighting of one of the mice which play havoc with the breeding of the birds and are the object of multi-million pounds eradication programs in all the islands in the region.
There is a reconstruction of an original settlers hut..
...a pub...
...and excellent crayfish and crab tarts.
The Administrator had very pleasant lodgings..
...and the local ale had to be sampled of course.
The golf course was slightly on the primitive side...
...but the coastal scenery was quite spectacular.
After 3 hours it was back to the ship...
...with plenty of water splashing over the zodiacs
To cap it off, the chef cooked a BBQ lunch on the back deck
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