Back to the beginning.........

This is where the sub-Antarctic journey started.................

Flying into New Zealand's North Island

Auckland, New Zealand - sailing away at sunset

First evening on the M/V Orion waiting to sail out of Auckland

Our fabulous warm expedition jackets were waiting - I even started to enjoy wearing red after the first day!!!

Being upgraded to the Owner's Suite was a special treat - such an awesome cabin with every comfort, including................

 ...........a large marble bathroom with sunken tub/shower and such special little extras such as a magnifying mirror. Easy to see that this ship is owned/designed by a woman, yeah!

Pedra Brancha, Tasman Sea

Everything in this lovely suite was comfy and perfect.  On the rough days as we rocked and rolled through some heaving seas, I was thrown around bit, but survived even a bad fall when thrown across Paula's bed onto the floor where I hit my head!

This was an awesome voyage .....more later.
I'm in Brisbane, Australia today and all I can say is that this is a trip of a lifetime!

A little bit of heaven.......

Just flew in to Sydney from Hobart. Have WiFi so can load a few pics to tweak your interest!! 

View of the Chatham Islands from our suite on the Orion

Pinnacle Rock, Chatham Islands, NZ at sunset

King Penguin Colony - Sandy Bay, Macquarie Island, Australia

Mating Elephant Seals and King Penguins - Macquarie Island

AND there will be so many more!!!!

Heading to Tasmania ....................

What a journey this has been.  I have so much to share with you when back home again.


The days at sea have been somewhat rough at times, rocking and rolling across the huge swells and white capped waves.  The islands have been awesome - the seabirds, penguins, sea lions and seals have meant snapping away and editing hundreds of photos each evening.  So much to show you later!!


Internet access is very sporadic and impossible to load pics right now.


Come back and visit me soon when I will share the awesome beauty of these sub-Antarctic Islands.
Mary.

Orion Expedition Cruise...not long now!

The bad news is a huge container ship has run aground on a reef off the beautiful Bay of Plenty on the north island of New Zealand.  Oil is already leaking out and the ship may sink causing a gigantic oil spill. Some sea birds, including penguins, have already washed ashore dead or coated with oil.  Praying that the powers that be can remove the oil, along with the containers, before the ship sinks and causes a environmental catastrophe.

More news, the good being my ship will be coming in very soon and hopefully I'll be there to jump aboard!  We will leave from Auckland, NZ and, wait for it, more bad news, it looks like we could be close to the area of the stranded ship on the voyage to our first stop, the Chatham Islands.  

~~~ M/V Orion ~~~ 

Zodiacs used to access the remote islands

I wasn't expecting this!  A package from Sydney, Australia was delivered to the door recently.  It contained an elegant zippered binder containing everything I need to know about the upcoming expedition on the Orion.

The page in the brochure above shows New Zealand. Orion departs from Auckland at the top of the north island, sails to the chain of sub-Antarctic islands in a southerly direction, then turns north to Tasmania where we'll disembark following two full weeks of what has to be an awesome adventure.

Paula and I are hoping to get great photos from the wall of windows and balcony in our suite on Deck 5. You can also read the list of other places available to fill our days at sea. I'm hoping to be able to post to my blog and share shipboard life with you.

Packing frenzy is underway!  Trying different bags in the quest to have everything manageable.  As the trip will be through two opposite ranges of temperatures - cold, possibly wet, in the sub-Antarctic, hot once we reach Australia - this is not easy.