This morning’s wake up call was at 0630 and after breakfast we were off in the zodiacs and on the shore by 0830. The beach was covered in Magellanic Penguins. We walked up and to the north of the island first to see Black-browed Albatross Colony. Many of them were sitting on chicks and there were Rockhopper Penguins everywhere with chicks of their own. It was amazing. I had a crash course in how to use some of the functions on my camera by Tom – the photographer on board. I also saw two Skua’s (scavenger type bird) take penguin chicks and literally tear them apart. We then walked back to where we started and had lunch before setting off on a 7km hike over rolling hills and passing by Penguin burrows to the settlement of Coffin’s Harbour. There was an old ship wreck there and the view was spectacular. I walked straight to the Settlement Rookery where there was a huge population of Rockhopper Penguins. There were so many that it was hard to decide what to take photos of. I headed down a steep cliff past where all the penguins walk and out onto some rocks. There were a few of is there and we basically spent the afternoon watching penguins surf the waves into shore, march up the rocks in single file, fall down the cliff when there were too many trying to get up at once and watching Albatross flying over head. It was one of the single best things I think I have ever seen in my life. All up, I spent 11 hours out watching wildlife.
I was back on the ship by 1915 and dinner was at 1930. I ordered pasta tonight to make sure I had enough to eat. I’m glad that’s what I ordered because I would be very hungry now had I ordered anything else that was available. I really want to go to bed but my photos are taking forever to download, so hopefully they will finish downloading soon.
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