Wild Edge of the Pacific: Voyage 2 - Chatham Islands to Fiordland

Set out from the Chathams, cruising southward into New Zealand’s Sub-Antarctic group of islands, a World
Heritage Park renowned for its astonishing biodiversity. Ten of the world’s albatross species and more than 40 species of seabirds breed in this region. Bounty and Antipodes Islands alone are home to 100,000 Salvin’s albatross and half the world’s population of erect-crested penguins. On the wild bluff s and grassy headlands of Campbell Island marvel at close—and supremely photogenic— encounters with southern royal albatross; in the Auckland Islands thrill at the sighting of rare yellow-eyed penguins. Nature walks lead us through rata and elfin forests and the exquisite waterways of Fiordland National Park add a spectacular finale to this grand adventure.

Join us as we embark on our inaugural voyages to the Wild
Edge of the Pacific—an experience that is sure to be nothing
less than extraordinary.

Itinerary:

Day 1 - USA
Independent flight from USA to New Zealand. Day lost crossing the International Date Line.

Day 2 - Auckland, New Zealand
Arrive in Auckland in the morning and transfer to our hotel. Spread over a narrow isthmus between two dazzling harbors, Auckland is a multi-cultural metropolis sitting on the doorstep of a natural wonderland. After lunch at our hotel a tour reveals the highlights of “the city of sails.” Dinner and overnight.

Day 3 - Auckland / Chatham Island / Embark the Clipper Odyssey
After the morning at leisure and lunch at our hotel, we fly to Chatham Island and embark the Clipper Odyssey.

Situated nearly 500 miles from the New Zealand mainland, this isolated group of ten islands offers a mind-boggling array of botanicals and birdlife, supremely photogenic landscapes, and welcoming locals who live and work in New Zealand’s easternmost community. The Chathams’ unique nature statistics include 320 indigenous species of flora—29 of these exist nowhere else on Earth. Eighteen species of birds are unique to the islands and include the Chatham Island black robin, famous as being the hero of one of the world’s most inspiring conservation stories, as well as the shore plover and the Chatham Island pigeon, among the world’s rarest birds.

These unique and wild lands were once the home of the Moriori people, the Chathams’ first settlers, believed to have sailed originally from Polynesia via New Zealand around 1,000 years ago.

For Travelers Continuing from Voyage I: After breakfast we begin a day-long excursion to Waitangi West, past farmlands, native bush, and Lake Te Roto. At Port Hutt, a small fishing village, we visit the historic landing site of the Maori when they invaded from New Zealand and in Maunganui, we see the remains of houses where German missionaries once lived. Waitangi, situated on Petre Bay, is the main port in the Chatham Islands and home to 300 residents. Fern-covered hills backdrop a picturesque beach where we enjoy a picnic lunch and may have the opportunity to meet local farmers.

Day 4 - Chatham Island
After breakfast we have a choice of two excursions. The first is a drive through farmlands and past superb coastal scenery to Awatotara for a bush walk to search for the Chatham Island warbler and Chatham Island pigeon. Or, we visit “Plum Tree,” a popular spot with the locals situated on the Te Whanga Lagoon, where we can see petroglyphs that date back to early Moriori days.

In the afternoon we gather for a lunch of local specialties and cultural time at the local Marae, which celebrates three distinct cultural groups: the Moriori, the Maori, and Chatham Islanders. We have the option to visit Owenga, a small settlement near Cape Fournier on the easternmost point on the island. Along the way we visit a monument to Tommy Solomon, the last full-blooded Moriori who died in 1933. We return to the ship for dinner and overnight.

Day 5 - Pitt Island
Low-lying Pitt is the first inhabited island to see the sunrise. It is also home to the easternmost house in the world, and to the nikau palm which is the farthest point from the equator of a naturally growing palm tree. The endemic Pitt Island shag makes its home along the rocky shores, and just this past spring, 20 Chatham Island snipe were released on the island. Expedition cruising takes us around the island and we watch for the Chatham Island petrel and the very rare magenta petrel. By Zodiac we cruise around the perimeter of The Pyramid, a huge triangular wedge of rock, for a thrilling close-up look at the only breeding place of the world’s remaining 11,000 Chatham albatross.

Day 6 - Bounty Island
One of New Zealand’s Sub-Antarctic island groups, Bounty is part of the World Heritage Park renowned for its incredible biodiversity, density of wildlife, and high rate of endemism. Captain William Bligh discovered this cluster of 20 tiny islands in 1788 and named them for his ship. By ship and Zodiac we cruise the shores of the largest island, a mere one-half-mile square, which is home to the rare erect-crested penguin (which nests only here and on Antipodes Island), nearly 600 pairs of Bounty Island shag, and more than 100,000 Salvin’s albatross.

Day 7 - Antipodes Island
To the south lies another small island grouping, the Antipodes where we explore the rugged coast of the principal namesake island. A former station of sealing gangs in the early 19th century (more than 400,000 were hunted), followed by penguin skin traders in the latter part of that century, and temporary home to the survivors of numerous shipwrecks, Antipodes remains a wild and inhospitable place of wave-pounded cliffs and wind-blown tussocks. No landings are permitted, but Zodiacs bring us close to the shores to search for the 200,000 pairs of erect-crested penguins that make their home here, as well as the endemic Antipodes parakeet.

Day 8 - At Sea
Join our naturalists on deck for incredible opportunities to view and photograph northern royal, shy, and Buller’s albatross, Antarctic fulmar, plus a host of southern ocean petrels.

Day 9 - Campbell Island
This morning we anchor off Campbell Island, the southernmost sub-Antarctic island. Birders and photographers thrill to close encounters with southern royal and light-mantled sooty albatross and Hooker’s sea lions. Broad bays, vertical headlands, and surf-washed beaches backdrop our exploration.

Day 10 - Enderby Island, Auckland Islands
The Aucklands are regarded as the most diverse of all wildlife havens fringing the great Antarctic continent. Enderby’s varied landscape of wave-battered basalt cliffs, serene fiord-like inlets and bays, and rata forests is home to Hooker’s sea lions and yellow-eyed penguins—one of the rarest penguins in the world. In the elfin forest of twisted trunks, we search for melodious bellbirds, diminutive tomtits, and colorful red-crowned parakeets. Other endemic birds include the Auckland Island shag, banded dotterel, and flightless teal.

Day 11 - Snares Islands
With fur seals and penguins lining the kelp-covered shores, we board Zodiacs and cruise around the Snares Islands, home to endemic bird species such as the Snares tomtit, Snares fern bird, and the Snares crested penguin.

Day 12 - Stewart Island / Ulva Island
Peaceful Stewart Island, home to only 480 residents, is ringed with golden beaches backed by dunes and thick forests which shelter an abundance of birds. We anchor near Halfmoon Bay for an exploration of Oban, New Zealand’s southernmost township. We also visit Ulva Island, a bird sanctuary, with the hope of spotting kaka, a threatened native parrot.

Day 13 - Dusky and Doubtful Sound, Fiordland National Park
Cruise these pristine fiords and board Zodiacs to explore remote coves where Captain Cook anchored his ship, the Resolution, in 1773. Watch for rare Fiordland crested penguins and join our naturalists on deck to search for bottlenose dolphins, fur seals, and little blue penguins.

Day 14 - Milford Sound / Disembark the Clipper Odyssey / Queenstown
Sheer cliff faces rise thousands of feet from the water’s edge and we explore this awe-inspiring wonderland with its dramatic cascades and stunning mile-high Mitre Peak. We drive through the three-quarter-mile-long Homer Tunnel, completed 20 years after it was started, to look for the endemic South Island wrens, then walk through a primeval Fiordland beech forest and cross foot bridges over the Cleddau River with its spectacular waterfalls. After lunch in lakeside Te Anau, we continue to Queenstown. Dinner and overnight at our hotel in Queenstown.

Day 15 - Queenstown / USA
Transfer to the airport for your independent flights homeward.

NOTE: Due to variable weather conditions in the Chatham and Sub-Antarctic Islands, landings and excursions may vary.

What's Included:

• Accommodations in hotels and on board Clipper Odyssey as outlined in the itinerary
• All onboard meals; all group meals on land
• Group transfers
• Services of the expedition staff, including lectures, briefings, slide/film shows
• All group activities and excursions
• Landing and port fees
• All gratuities
• Pre- and post-voyage extensions include all of the above.

What's Not Included:

• All air transportation
• Excess baggage charges
• Airport arrival and departure taxes
• Transfers for independent arrivals and departures
• Passport and/or visa fees
• Travel insurance
• Items of a personal nature such as laundry, bar charges, alcoholic beverages, e-mail/fax/ telephone charges
• Scuba diving fees and equipment where required

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