June 7: Colours and textures in the rain on West Beach of the Isthmus

A rainy Sunday. Too wet to take out my Olympus so I headed out for a walk with my old Lumix Waterproof DMC-FT2. When it is raining on Macca everything is grey.  The sky, the ground, the ocean.  With my eyes cast down to avoid the horizontal rain, I started to spot all of the little bits of colour the whole way along my walk from the Station to the Razorback at the end of the Isthmus on the west coast, and back along the east coast.  The blurry effects are a combination of raindrops and me licking the lens to try and clear it!
With gumboots full of water and soaking wet I returned home after an hour and a half, smiling at how much colour you can find on  a grey day, if you look in the right places.




Algae. Photo: Jacque Comery

Vertebra. Photo: Jacque Comery

Inside rotting kelp. Photo Jacque Comery

A Skua boules. Photo: Jacque Comery

Algae. Photo: Jacque Comery

Beach pebble. Photo: Jacque Comery

Drift wood. Photo: Jacque Comery

Algae. Photo: Jacque Comery

Top of the fire hydrant marker. Photo: Jacque Comery

June 6: Little Miss in the way...

Elephant seal blocking the path between Hydroponics and the Mess. Photo: Jacque Comery



Young female elephant seal. Photo: Jacque Comery

Is there a problem here? Photo: Jacque Comery

You can only forgive a face like that! Photo: Jacque Comery

June 5: Starry starry night

A strange light was shining in through the cracks in my curtains. A crisp starry night with a full moon! Such a rare opportunity here must be seized, and so I threw my Carhartts overalls and jacket on over my pyjamas, and headed out from my cosy room on Station to attempt my first starry photos. Nights like these you really do feel that we are just a tiny little speck in the vast ocean under an endless sky.

Gentoo's under stars. Photo: Jacque Comery

The ANARESAT. Our lifeline to the outside world. Photo: Jacque Comery

View towards Handspike Point. Photo: Jacque Comery

Ghost Penguins. Photo: Jacque Comery

June 4: Trip to Green Gorge - Day 3: Heading back to VJM

Our weather forecasts down here typically don't include a temperature as it is pretty much always the same and largely irrelevant anyway.  It is always cold.
The official weather forecast for the day of our trip home was "Very cold".  That had Louise, a BoM Forecaster, mildly nervous / bemused or both. After rejigging our clothing layers we set off early after a 0730 sched with VJM to make the trip home. It was cold. The snow that hampered out trip on the way south had partially melted, and refrozen into ice. The mud on the track was frozen solid into chocolate gelato like peaks, and even the floating bogs were easy to walk on as they had a crispy ice layer on top meaning that we could scurry across them quickly without the usual sinking and subsequent wet cold feet. The peanut butter cookies that were baked in the hut provided plenty of fuel for the whole way home, and our Comms Technician back on station had the sauna going ready for our arrival back on Station before dark. Another beautiful walk through this dramatic landscape, left me once again with many more memories than photos.

View back to Brothers Point. Photo: Jacque Comery

Icy creek. Photo: Jacque Comery

Jacque with Finch Creek Valley in distance. Photo: Jacque Comery

 The two sandy bare patches that you can see behind me in this photo are the Royal Penguin rookeries, which during breeding season will be full of thousands of Royal Penguins and their chicks.  They travel a surprising distance inland to nest, considering their little legs!

Lakes between 4 Ways and Mt Blair. Photo: Jacque Comery

Icy patterns. Photo: Jacque Comery

June 3: Green Gorge Trip - Day 2: Hut Day

To stay at Green Gorge Hut, is to be transported to another world. This self contained universe is only half way down island, and yet it feels like you are the only inhabitants of the island. Everything you could possibly need for cooking up a hearty meal, is tucked away in the shelves of the kitchen or in "Shangrila" the storage pantry. We have a gas powered marine stove and oven, and a 'fridge' which comprises shelves on the porch.  With an outside temperature of rarely over 4C,  and no scavenging predators, this is the perfect solution.  Endless entertainment resides in the contents of the bookshelves and scratched old CDs compiled by Rangers and visitors past provide some fun surprises in the car stereo system we use to play music.  Short daylight hours and no distraction of internet and electronics offers a wonderful opportunity to sit and chat, day dream and nap.  Oh, wonderful hut life!
The most was made of daylight hours with several trips outside to photograph the Green Gorge locals.  The blustery westerly winds racing down the valley provided the Giant Petrels the perfect amount of offshore wind to extend their huge wings and hover about with ease.  Another posse of curious King Penguins lives here with their fluffy chicks. They gravitate towards you whenever you chose a spot on the beach to sit quietly with the camera. Inherently inquisitive they have no disregard for any attempt to maintain wildlife approach distances.  One silly chick tried to walk back to the hut with me!
Another layer of Macquarie Island revealed, and every new one is equally beautiful and dramatic as the last. How shall I leave here!

Green Gorge Hut. Photo: Jacque Comery

The wonderful Green Gorge Hut is tucked in the tussock at the edge of the beach. Shangrila is to the right, and the RAPS wind generator can be seen behind the hut.  This place probably has the most spectacular porch view that I have had the privilege of enjoying.

Cooking up some hots snacks in the hut galley. Photo: Jacque Comery

Drying socks and gloves over the heater. Photo: Jacque Comery

Relaxing evening in the hut. Photo: Jacque Comery

Hut bread success. Photo: Jacque Comery

Abbey Road King Penguins. Photo: Jacque Comery

 These four penguins marched along the beach with such self assurance and attitude I couldn't help drawing parallel to the Abbey Road Beatles album cover.  Crashing surf, howling winds, battling elephant seals...no problem... we got Penguin attitude.  Move aside strange biped...

Southern Giant Petrel. Photo: Jacque Comery

 I have spent hours trying to capture photos of these beautiful birds.  Awkward and ungainly on land, they are effortlessly elegant on the wing.  Whilst sitting on the beach with my big lens trying to capture these flighty shy creatures in the distance, this bird flew right up, and crash landed  right in front of me. Eventually folded up it's giant wings and sat right on down.  The most wonderful moments are always those that come to you unexpectedly.

Curious posse of King Penguins. Photo: Jacque Comery

Regal King Penguins. Photo: Jacque Comery



Southern Giant Petrel balancing with the wind. Photo: Jacque Comery

White variation of the Southern Giant Petrel. Photo: Jacque Comery

In the dark winter afternoons the white variation of the Southern Giant Petrels are like bright beacons on the beach, whilst their brown counterparts blend into the scenery.  These birds are very clumsy moving around on land, and take great advantage of extending their huge wings for stability, whilst they  prowl about the edge of the penguin colony for any stray chicks to seize.

June 2: Trip to to Green Gorge - Day 1




Frozen lakes from the Overland Track. Photo: Jacque Comery

Farewell VJM. Photo: Jacque Comery

Crepuscular clouds looking back over North Head. Photo: Jacque Comery

Moss. Photo: Jacque Comery

Having not yet explored further south than Brother's Point, a three day trip down to Green Gorge was planned. Louise, Bureau of Meteorology Observer also had time off and joined me on the adventure.
We set out in fine but cold weather leaving Station (call sign VJM) at around 0830hrs.
The snow at the top of the Doctors Track, which jumps you up from VJM to the Plateau started to build.  What at first presented as a pretty photo opportunity soon became a little treacherous as we navigated elevated boardwalk sections of the Overland Track (the OLT) all buried in snow up to our knees!  The cold kept the photo opportunities limited as I was trying to preserve my fingers, but we were stunned by the beauty and the colours that glow from the landscape when the sun breaks through the clouds to light it up.
This part of the plateau is lashed by winds usually 10 knots higher than down on Station.  The only things that grow up here are mosses and some other tenacious plants such as Azorella macquariensis. To give you an idea of the conditions here, another known species of Azorella grows in the Andes!
After a 6 hour walk we finally reached Green Gorge, tired and ready for cups of hot tea.  I was fuelled on the walk by about 6 pieces of my leftover birthday cake!