Jan 18-19 The weather forecast for Saturday the 18th of January called for moderately strong westerlies south of Invercargill, our departure point from New Zealand. Our expedition leader Nathan explained there had been a “slight change” in our itinerary—instead of heading first toward The Snares islands, we would sail directly to the Auckland Islands and […]
David
Unlikely to post again before Feb 15
I don’t expect to post anything to this blog while on board the ship due to limited connectivity. Hope to have plenty of photos to share then. Cheers! David
Blogging from email
Onboard the ship, we will only have access to plain-text email, no Internet access. This is a test of posting to our blog using an email message. David
Moral Contradictions
As we set out on this expedition to Antarctica, I’m inclined to contemplate some dilemmas that arise from our choices to do this. It’s a rare and unique and very expensive undertaking. It definitely has a considerable environmental impact. And it’s arguably self-serving. So what can I learn from this experience? Our round trip air […]
Kawerau
We enjoyed a Servas visit with our hosts Brenda and Jimmy Paul, a Maori couple who live in the small town of Kawerau with a diminishing population since the company downsized. Each of their five children have moved away in order to earn a living which changes the culture of the close-knit Maori community. She […]
New Zealand Falcon
The New Zealand Falcon is the only bird of prey endemic to New Zealand. It is a threatened species, with only about 3,000 breeding pairs surviving. Efforts are underway to rehabilitate injured birds and to train birds hatched in captivity to hunt on their own using falconry methods. We visited the Wingspan National Bird of […]
Paper Mill tour
Our Servas hosts Brenda and Jimmy Paul live in Kawerau, where Jimmy works in the paper mill. I asked him about him about visiting the plant and he graciously arranged a tour for us. The plant has been in operation since the 1960s, when it was locally owned. At its peak in the 1990s, it […]
Gannets
From the moment we boarded our Whidbey-SeaTac shuttle, boarded a Virgin America flight to LAX and finally settled into our 12 hour Air New Zealand flight, comfort and service was front and center. Before we deplaned in Auckland, we had an invitation to stay in the apartment of one of our fellow passengers. Warmth and […]
First Impressions of New Zealand
New Zealand is green, lush and varied. There is as much greenery as we see at our home on Whidbey Island, but with some fascinating variations. Some of the forest plants look familiar—pines, cypress, juniper, ocean spray, while others would be entirely out of place on Whidbey—palm trees and huge fern trees. There are Norfolk […]
Antarctic Cliff Hanger
Up until about 30 minutes ago, we didn’t know whether to take along our cold weather gear tomorrow when we leave for Auckland. But the people at Heritage Expeditions have now assured us that our voyage is on track to depart Port of Bluff (near Invercargill), New Zealand January 18 according to schedule. It just […]