A scary close encounter of the blubbery kind
HERE’S an unusual tip for cruising – never look a sea lion in the eye. I learnt this first-hand during an expedition to New Zealand’s sub-Antarctic islands.
We were on a hike when a territorial bull bounded off the beach on Enderby Island and plonked itself in my path.
I knew the drill – just stand still. If I ran it would chase me, thinking it was a game. But what I didn’t know was that you shouldn’t stare. I looked into the animal’s eyes and managed to freak it out – and half a ton of blubber was suddenly heading for my feet.
Luckily, our ship’s guide, Keith Springer, intervened. He brandished his walking stick, ordered me to ‘Move!’ and sent the beast packing.
The encounter certainly added a frisson of excitement to my 15-day cruise on Silversea’s Silver Discoverer. We were sailing from Auckland to Dunedin via the Antipodes, Snares, Bounty, Campbell and Auckland Islands – remote outcrops to the south and east of New Zealand. The ship takes 120 passengers, and with 105 crew we were well catered for.
It took a few days to reach the sub-Antarctic. En route we called at White Island, the country’s oldest active volcano. Our guide greeted us with gas masks, prompting us to burst out laughing, but we were soon wearing them – the air reeked of sulphur.
The corrosive atmosphere even managed to ruin our guide’s trainers. ‘They fall apart regularly,’ she said, ‘and every six months the bottom falls out of my backpack.’
Back on board the Silver Discoverer, I had no such worries – I let my butler take care of my boots while I sipped champagne in the sunshine and watched sperm whales and dolphins swim boy, and an albatross fly overhead.
On day seven, as we approached Bounty Islands, named by Captain Bligh months before the famous mutiny, we suffered an insurrection of our own – the weather turned nasty.
At dinner, 40mph winds and a 20ft swell sent us sliding on our chairs as we tried heroically to save our glasses of pinot gris, while in the bar, Mervin, the pianist, played on stoically.
Thankfully, the morning brought brilliant sunshine and the Antipodes. We launched the inflatable Zodiacs, chugged into caves lined with fat, tagliatelle-like seaweed and spotted fur seals showering under a waterfall.
At Campbell Island, we hiked across a windswept plateau, dotted with nesting albatross, and on another occasion we saw one of the rarest birds in the world – a plain, brown teal.
Our last stop was Ulva, where our guide tapped the soil to mimic rain. The Stewart Island robin appeared (it’s black with a white breast), looking for worms. As I crouched, the bird hopped happily at my feet.
It was a charming wildlife encounter and one I didn’t have to run away from.