Acclimatising oneself to sleeping in a rocking boat can take some time. It was a late start for me this morning due to a lack of sleep, and after a quick breakfast many people went back to bed for a nap, myself included. At 11am we all gathered in the Auditorium for our first briefing and the news was good - just 7 more hours and we would reach the Auckland Islands, right on time.
At 3 we had to assemble for biosecurity. The islands are strictly protected by the New Zealand government and as such, when you set foot on land, you have to be completely free of any foreign plant material. To achieve this, we had to take each and every piece of equipment that we will be bringing onto the island and clean, vacuum and wash every piece of equipment we'd be taking ashore. In addition to this, the scrubbing of boots with hot water and a special chemical was required each time we'd leave or return to the boat.
After a brief dinner, we jumped in the zodiacs and headed for shore. Luckily the water was calm in the harbour and it was a reasonably clear evening.
We explored the island for about 1.5 hours. Verity and I found pieces of broken glass which were remnants from the failed settlement in the 1800's. A short walk brought us to the graveyard of the settlement on the island.
One particular grave was for an 8 month old child. The family had come to the island hoping to grow crops, needless to say the environment was not ideal and life was hard. Unable to grow food, the milling stone the father had brought with him was useless, such that when his young child died, the grave stone was carved from it. Dark.
Aside from this, the vegetation is unique, interesting but quite dense and unlike any other ecosystem I've ever been in. The day wrapped up with a trip to the bar and an early night to prepare for our first day of work in the morning.
One particular grave was for an 8 month old child. The family had come to the island hoping to grow crops, needless to say the environment was not ideal and life was hard. Unable to grow food, the milling stone the father had brought with him was useless, such that when his young child died, the grave stone was carved from it. Dark.
Aside from this, the vegetation is unique, interesting but quite dense and unlike any other ecosystem I've ever been in. The day wrapped up with a trip to the bar and an early night to prepare for our first day of work in the morning.