Day 4 Macquarie Island

 Very lucky to have arrived at Macquarie Island in perfect weather, best the crew had ever had, and even some sunshine, a rare treat with an average of 320 days a year being cloud covered.

The planned landing site at Sandy Bay with large colonies of king and royal penguins plus lots of elephant seals

Breakfast at anchorage watching the zodiac preparations and lots of penguins through the restaurant window.

Then it was off to shore for a 2 hr morning explore

The view to the south along the island

The landing party

A quick briefing

Then photos, photos, photos….

Giant petrels including the white form

Royal penguins

King penguin breeding colony

Royal penguin colony

Mega herbs

Royal penguin

And some videos

We went back to the beach in the afternoon for a guided walk. Resisted taking too many more photos but liked this semi- landscape

…and a skua with a relatively fresh kill

Also a video just to record the elephant seal grunts

Time for cocktails after…

…. then a lively dinner to follow with new found friends - note the ratio of males to females