Day 2 (part 2)

After kitting up, the team left Bauer Bay hut with reasonable weather. We walked up to the ridge line and walked along to a creek. The rabbits had really trashed the creek slopes and the sides had eroded away to bare earth. A slope of dead tussock pedestals were all that remained to give me an idea of what this place used to look like before the rabbits came through. Spooked rabbits suddenly jumped out and ran to the safety of another warren.

We continued walking up the escarpment where the sheer scale of the damage really hit me again, nearly everywhere you could see had been trashed by rabbits. We sat on a ridge that gave me a birds eye view up and down the island ‑ the amazing beauty of this place is overwhelming. The rugged escarpments captured in a soft light, the coastal rock stacks jutting out of both sea and land, a coastal lake and bog. And walking along the beach and up the hill to their colony, a line of penguins.

After some chocolate, we started back down the ridge down to the stony beach. Saw my first Elephant seal wallow ‑ a metre deep of stinking mud. Mental note ‑ avoid stepping on anything that is flat, even if it has grass on it. Started to snow as we walked back along the beach ‑ stark and quiet. Arrived back at the hut, and then started next bit of the day trip ‑ walking up the escarpment to the plateau. Had all my camera gear, including tripod in my pack, so extra weight meant this was a bit of a plod.

Once we got to the top, the going got easier. A skua glided down to check us out ‑ hovering only 2 metres from our heads. They, like many things here are really big (a response to better conserve heat and energy). Walked and walked checking out whole hill slopes that had slipped. Then we got to a small ridge ‑ below it was a Royal penguin colony. Royals are unique to Macquarie Island and there are over one and a half million of them here. Found a comfy spot to sit and have lunch ‑ and being down wind of the penguins got to also enjoy their aroma.

After lunch, continued down the escarpment on the other side of the island via Finch Creek. The devastation here has been particularly severe. Before my trip, the stations doctor showed me a photo of what Finch Creek looked like before rabbit plague so I would know what it used to look like. This lush carpet of Macquarie Island cabbage ‑ through which the Royal penguins would waddle up the hill to get to their colony ‑ is all gone. The slopes of ferns are all gone. The tussocks are essentially all gone ‑ a couple struggle to put out shoots and some edges are inaccessible to the rabbits. This is confronting stuff.

We kept on walking until we got to the Sandy Bay Royal penguin colony, and walked along the top of the now closed board walk between dead tussocks (the section talking tourists up the hill slope has been undermined by the slope giving way due to rabbit overgrazing).

Once we got to the beach, a number of inquisitive King penguins came up to us. What exceptionally beautiful birds...