The ships motion eased during the night as we got closer to Macquarie. It was overcast and 9 degrees, we felt right at home, especially as it’s administered by Tasmania’s Parks and Wildlife !

We then had one of the best reception committees ever organised

We were first up, so had a quick brekky as the ship was repositioned to our Zodiac wet landing beach.

Upon landing we were assigned Penny as a guide. A fellow Tasmanian she has spent numerous years working here, so a perfect person to show us the 2 colonies of Royal and King penguins.

But first we had to cross Penguin alley, a constant stream going to and fro from the sea. The rookery was huge, noisy and smelly !

There were not many chicks left, but lots of adults moulting, resulting in white feathers everywhere.

Descending down to the beach we passed two of the Mega Herbs found here.

The later were particularly impressive with large inflorescences

On the way to the King Penguin colony we came across the local traffic warden, who’d had enough humans pass….

Our 1.5 hours were up, but Penny gave us a leisurely stroll back to the beach, passing posing penguins and elephant seals.

We made it back to the ship fine, but the boats in the afternoon were getting a bit wet !