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Sub-Antarctic Islands of New Zealand & Australia
Tour Code: NZL03A 16-day holiday incorporating an 11-night cruise around the remote Sub-Antarctic Islands of New Zealand and Australia, home to the greatest concentrations of seabirds in the world!
£13,295 (Inc flights)
£11,895
Highlights
Tour Itinerary and Reports
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Summary
The remote Sub-Antarctic Islands of New Zealand and Australia are visited by only a handful of visitors each year. This tour, which includes an 11-night cruise aboard the ‘Heritage Adventurer’, takes you to the nutrient-rich waters of the Sothern Ocean where millions of albatrosses, penguins, cormorants and petrels arrive each year to breed. We begin the holiday in Invercargill, New Zealand’s southernmost city, and our first port of call is Snares Island where 60 million ‘tubenoses’ breed, as well as a bewildering number of other birds. Next we head to the Auckland Islands, the breeding ground of Yellow-eyed Penguin and Auckland Island Shag. As we continue our voyage, cruising from one archipelago to another, we’ll be followed by numerous seabirds as we travel towards Campbell Island, which will provide a fitting finale to our trip.
- Snares Island; home to 30,000 pairs of the endemic Snares Island Penguin as well as South Giant Petrel & Broad-billed Prion
- Salvin's, Southern Royal, Shy, Buller’s, Light-mantled Sooty, Black-browed & Wandering Albatrosses
- See nesting Royal, King, Gentoo & Rockhopper Penguins, Macquarie Island
- Orca & Sperm Whale, plus Hourglass & Dusky Dolphins
Grading
Day walks only, but over rough terrain. Participants must also be able to climb in and out of the landing craft.
Whilst Antarctica is annually swamped by over 25,000 tourists, the remote Sub-Antarctic Islands of New Zealand and Australia are enjoyed by just a handful of visitors each year. This is surprising, as the islands, and their unusually nutrient-rich waters, provide nesting and feeding grounds for the world’s largest concentration of birds. The sheer abundance and diversity of wildlife in the Southern Ocean never ceases to amaze those few fortunate enough to visit. There are greater numbers and more species of seabird here than in any other comparable area on Earth. Literally millions of albatrosses, penguins, cormorants and petrels return to these windswept, isolated outposts each southern summer to breed, converging to create one of the world’s most magnificent wildlife spectacles. The numbers are mindboggling! Amongst Macquarie Island’s four million penguins, an estimated 850,000 breeding pairs of Royal Penguin and 218,000 pairs of King Penguin may be seen, together with a further 19 species of breeding seabird and 150,000 Southern Elephant Seals. Scattered across Campbell Island’s hillsides are some 7,500 pairs of Southern Royal Albatross, whilst on Snares Island, a rocky outpost covering no more than 243 hectares, it has been estimated that 60 million ‘tubenoses’ (petrels, shearwaters and albatrosses) breed, which alone — and not counting the penguins, cormorants and other nesting birds — exceeds the total number of seabirds nesting around the entire British coastline!
There are few places remaining on our planet that have so successfully escaped the destructive forces of the human species. Such an opportunity for wildlifeviewing and photography is simply unparalleled in expedition cruising. Indeed, the islands’ appeal was summed up by Conon Fraser in his book ‘Beyond the Roaring Forties’ thus: ‘protected by the Southern Ocean, diverse, wonderful and lonely, they can be numbered among the last few unspoilt environments on Earth’.
A visit to the Sub-Antarctic Islands is an adventure never to be forgotten. This 16-day holiday, incorporating an 11-night cruise, promises to be one of our most exciting wildlife expeditions. Our home will be the ‘Heritage Adventurer’, a comfortable, 140-berth ship which has been cruising the Sub-Antarctic Islands for over 20 years. Our expedition leader has unrivalled experience in these waters and with a full complement of Zodiacs, we will be able to make landings and enjoy wildlife viewing in the most inaccessible of areas.
Our holiday begins with a flight to Queenstown, on New Zealand’s South Island, where we overnight before transferring to Port of Bluff to board the ‘Heritage Adventurer’ and head south to Snares Island, the first Sub-Antarctic island on our cruise and a nature reserve of international importance. The total number of birds that breed here defies belief. In addition to the aforementioned 60 million ‘tubenoses’ (including six million pairs of Sooty Shearwater), Snares is home to 30,000 pairs of the endemic Snares Island Penguin, plus Salvin’s Albatross, Southern Giant Petrel, Broad-billed Prion and Antarctic Tern. Snares Fernbird and Tomtit also occur around the edge of the island and are usually seen on Zodiac cruises around the rocky headlands and sheltered bays (landings not being permitted here).
We next stop in the Auckland Islands, the breeding grounds of Yellow-eyed Penguin, Auckland Island Shag and the rare and endemic Flightless Teal. Gibson’s Wandering Albatrosses breed on the islands’ windswept grassy slopes and we hope to visit a colony of Shy Albatrosses on the main island’s south-western cape. Further south, we explore Macquarie Island, home to one of the greatest concentrations of wildlife in the southern hemisphere and an undoubted highlight of a highlight-packed cruise. This is the only nesting site of the Royal Penguin, 850,00 pairs of which nest alongside three other penguin species (King, Gentoo and Rockhopper) and numerous other birds.
As we cruise from one archipelago to the next we will be followed by numerous seabirds. Magnificent Wandering Albatrosses sail by on the longest wings in the avian world alongside their small cousins such as Shy, Buller’s and Black-browed Albatrosses. Smaller still, an unrivalled variety of petrels, prions and shearwaters will test our identification skills to the limit whilst, beneath the waves, cetaceans such as Orca, Sperm Whale and Hourglass and Dusky Dolphins may be seen.
Macquarie is the most southerly of the islands we visit, and from here we turn north-east to Campbell Island, the final island on our voyage. Here we will be greeted by 7,500 pairs of Southern Royal Albatross, plus the beautiful Light-mantled Sooty Albatross, Campbell Island Shag and, for the botanists amongst us, a selection of early flowering megaherbs. Campbell Island will make a fitting finale to our voyage, from where we complete our cruise back to South Island’s Port of Bluff and start our long journey home.
Outline Itinerary
What's Included?
- Flights
- Accommodation:
This expedition voyage will be aboard the 'Heritage Adventurer', a comfortable 140-berth expedition vessel (see trip itinerary for more details ). A variety of cabin grades are available from triple cabins, to superior double or single cabins or a very comfortable suite; all cabins have private facilities Please refer to the Trip Itinerary for further details. In Queenstown and Auckland we use a comfortable tourist hotel with private facilities.
- Food:
All included in the price except for main meals in Queenstown, Auckland and Bluff.
Dates & Prices
2025
Please note that cabin grades are subject to availability. We recommend phoning the office before booking to confirm that your preference is available.
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The majority of our wildlife tours focus primarily on birds, allowing us to offer a huge choice of bird holidays. On most of our birdwatching tours we aim to see a wide variety of species, while taking time to enjoy other wildlife as well as cultural highlights and architecture.
Naturetrek Birdwatching Tours
We have one of the largest selections of professionally organised, small group birdwatching holidays around the world and all of our birdwatching tours are accompanied by at least one professional ornithologist leader with detailed knowledge of the area.
The majority of our bird tours have a relaxed, flexible approach which allows more time for photography, detailed wildlife exploration, leisure time and the region’s people, culture, history and architecture, while allowing the group to see a wide range of bird species.
Here is a small selection of our many bird holidays:
- Southern Morocco – an exploration of the birdlife in Morocco’s southern deserts, oases and mountains
- The Camargue in Spring – a short break to enjoy the spring birds of the Rhône Delta and Camargue wetland
- Wallcreepers & Cranes in Northern Spain – a 2-centre holiday focusing on Lammergeier, Wallcreepers, raptors, Cranes, bustards, sandgrouse and more!
- Madeira & Desertas Islands – A Seabird Extravaganza! – a short break focusing on special breeding seabirds, including a night on the remote Destertas Islands
- Peru – Macaws & Machu Picchu – searches for boobies, macaws and Inca Terns
- Spain & Morocco: Birding on Two Continents! – watch the spectacular spring bird migration from both sides of the Straits of Gibraltar
Our Bargain Birdwatching Selection
Our Bargain Bird Tours are intensive birdwatching holidays suitable for the serious birder. They are led by expert English-speaking local guides (and not accompanied from the UK by a tour leader). You can expect a higher-paced tour and to spend long hours in the field.
Our specialist recommends...
Byron Palacios - Tour Leader
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Wildlife Cruise Holidays
The oceans are one of the last great wilderness areas left on our planet. Travelling by sea on a nature cruise represents the best way to see many of the world’s wildlife spectacles, as there are still wildlife paradises that are accessible by sea but cannot yet be reached by air.
Naturetrek wildlife cruises offer:
- A range of cruising experiences, from exclusively chartered 50-berth expedition ships to smaller motor yachts & schooners
- Arctic & Antarctic nature cruises in ships with specially strengthened hulls
- Each voyage is accompanied by expert naturalists
- Wide range of wildlife cruises from five continents
We have been running wildlife cruises for over 30 years and if your image of cruising is endless deck quoits or bingo, think again! A life on the ocean waves can be a permit to witness scenes of natural splendour that most people will only ever see on their television screens.
A selection of our most popular wildlife cruises:
- Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands – Unique 2-week Galapagos nature cruise aboard a 16-berth schooner in search of the confiding birds, mammals & reptiles that inhabit these islands made so famous by Darwin
- The Sub-Antartic Islands of New Zealand – Penguins, marine mammals & seabirds (Tailormade)
- Spitsbergen - Realm of the Polar Bear – Polar Bears, Walruses & seabirds
- Baja California – Blue Whales, Sperm Whales, thousands of dolphins & other marine life, plus San Ignacio’s friendly Grey Whales
- Kamchatka Peninsula – Pacific Ocean seabird colonies, spectacular volcanic scenery & over a dozen species of auks, plus Steller’s Sea Eagle, Siberian Rubythroats & much more (Tailormade)
- Brahmaputra Cruise, India – Unique nature cruise visiting Kaziranga & other National Parks
Our specialist recommends...
Paul Stanbury - Operations Manager
Prefer to Travel in a Private Group?
For any interested natural history club or society, we can arrange for a private departure of this tour.
Enquire
Tour Reports
Why Naturetrek?
At Naturetrek we craft expertly-guided group and tailor-made wildlife holidays and cruises to all seven continents. On one of our holidays, you can be assured that our passionate team will enable you to experience and enjoy the best of the world's wildlife and natural spectacles in as comfortable and rewarding a manner as possible, caring as best we can for the environment in the process. We are proud to provide:
- The widest choice of wildlife holidays worldwide
- Tours managed and led by naturalists, for naturalists
- Outstanding value and exceptional customer service
Furthermore, as a Naturetrek client, our office team are always to on hand to help you – so if you have any queries about your holiday, whether before or after you have booked, we will be delighted to answer them on the phone. Please just give our team a call!
