From Cape to Cape on the Explorer.

More headless penguins.

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I gave up trying to count them-

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But it isn't all easy in penguin land.This fellow has a smug look-

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Because he has just dispatched a chick-

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His mate visits an old kill-

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Time to leave.

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avoiding the penguin poo-

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On the way back the seals kept their distance.Arrived just as a zodiac arrived but as usual I missed it by one.

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And for fletcher that is a back view of JD.

So watched the penguins come ashore-

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A lovely morning and a good lunch and at 1400 we set sail for Tristan da Cunha.The signs were not good but we were all hoping.The next 3.5 days were with seas 4-6 metres + strong winds.But with good company at meals and some interesting lectures the time went quickly.So what did I photograph.

Well birds and the sea!

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And sunsets-

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Occasionally sunrises-

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And birds-

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We awoke on Thursday morning with much gentler seas.The birds were about-

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However we soon got the message that we were headed to Gough island as it had shelter from the prevailing winds.It soon made an appearance-

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Drron - Thanks for the JD shot! I'm know how disappointed everyone must have been to miss Tristan da Cunha. It was a bucket list item for me and we were very lucky - but we missed South Georgia, a gap in our travels I have to plug next month. However, you are fortunate indeed to have got to Gough Island and can't wait to see your photos. That must be one of the world's remotest UNESCO World Herritage Sites, along with Henderson Island where I went with JD. My Tristan photos are here -

Thanks for those Tristan shots fletcher.Yes very disappointed not landing there but our zodiac got stuck on a rock for about a minute at Gough Island so I claim I have been on the territory of Tristan da Cunha.Tourists not allowed to land on Gough but it was an interesting day.

We anchor off Gough Island.Plenty of interesting rocks-

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There were lots of birds on the water after we anchored-

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There was a good reason for all those birds to be close to the ship-

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Yes all the crew were fishing.And they caught a lot of 5 band snapper so it was fresh fish for dinner.

chef Pia supervising and one being caught.

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The birds didn't mind how close the zodiacs got-

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And there's JD again.

So into the zodiacs and off looking for adventure-

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Now there was a very loud American lawyer on the cruise who had come to see the 19th species of penguin-the northern rockhopper which inhabits the Tristan group of islands.Little did she realise that my seeing the chinstrap penguin also got me to 18 species.And in a coincidence we were on the same zodiac.And here is the little fellow-

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My simple comment that that was my 19th species as well went down predictably.

So more of the wildlife-

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Nice photos of Gough. I see Drron that you sailed the Orion in 2009-2010, when it was under its original ownership. We sailed on Orion in 2009 through Melanesia and still regard that as the best expedition ship we have ever been on.

Nice photos of Gough. I see Drron that you sailed the Orion in 2009-2010, when it was under its original ownership. We sailed on Orion in 2009 through Melanesia and still regard that as the best expedition ship we have ever been on.

We did 2 cruises on the Orion.That first trip was the Kimberley cruise from Broome to Darwin and it was great.

However we did a cruise to Antarctica on her over the 2010/11 New Year.It was not as good handling those conditions.I would not sail to Antarctica on her-The Explorer handled the conditions a lot better than Orion.

A link to a post I did about the seas and how the Orion didn't cope then-

https://www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au/community/threads/antarctica.27099/page-7#post-405893

Then in the link to cruiselaw in the thread re the clouds maiden voyage problems I came across this thread.seems she still doesn't handle rough seas well-

http://www.cruiselawnews.com/2016/12/articles/power-loss-1/lindblad-expeditions-national-geographic-orion-suffers-power-failure/

I wouldn't like to be on a ship that did this in the Drake passage-

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So the Explorer remains our favourite ship.

More animals.

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And now some of the rocks-

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The giant petrels had some interesting behaviour.Sitting on the surface of the water they would rear up then crash their head into the water-

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Now I was searching for a video that was done at Gough by the Expedition crew.not discovered yet but came across their twitter feed and there is a picture of the Explorer arriving at Gough island on our cruise.

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The seals were also playing-

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Whilst I enjoyed it all-

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The penguins were staying put.

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Even on this remote islands there were problems-this seal has a plastic bag eating into his hide-

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But there were other seals-

Elephant seals.

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But he's got the spot I want-

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Well that's settled-

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or is it.

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More scenery-

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On this beach there had been a British research station in the 40s and 50s.what we didn't know was that Shackelton had landed here on his way to South Georgia and in the 50s Prince Phillip landed here-

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You cant land here now and as we found out later because you relay cant go anywhere.To get to the top there are a system of rough tracks and ladders so they will not let mere tourists in.

Now more rock formations including the remains of a lava tube of the beach-

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