Macquarie Island
After sailing for three days from Hobart we arrive at Macquarie Island.
We take a zodiac cruise in Lusitania Bay where there is a huge colony of king penguins.
There are so many penguins here that we probably couldn’t land even if we wanted to.
The penguins come out to meet us instead. The swam up close to the boat and the zodiacs.
The next day we landed at Sandy Beach where more king penguins came out to meet us.
These penguins really look like people wearing a dinner jacket (tuxedo)!
Although we were not allowed to go closer than 5 meters to the wildlife, they were allowed to walk up to you.
No one needed to be reminded about the 5 meter rule when it came to the elephant seals.
The elephant seals were everywhere, including in and around the Australian base on Macquarie Island.
It is obvious why they are called elephant seals.
In the hills behind Sandy Beach there was a large royal penguin rookery.
Penguins mostly live out at sea, but come ashore to lay their eggs and raise their chicks. This was towards the end of the royal’s breeding season and the chicks have nearly lost all their down feather.
On Sandy Beach is another king penguin rookery.