In January we flew to New Zealand, staying for a few days in Invercargill on South Island before boarding the Spirit of Enderby on a 30-day voyage to the Ross Sea via New Zealand and Australian subantarctic islands. The voyage was organised by Heritage Expeditions - a fantastic and ultimate professional company. Our first stop was the Snares Islands where landings are not allowed but we could cruise near the island to view the endemic Snares Crested Penguins. From there we continued south to the Auckland Islands, spending a day on Enderby Island and a day in Carnley Harbour on Auckland Island. Highlights were endemic Yellow-eyed Penguins, New Zealand Sea Lions and an impressive colony of White-capped Albatrosses. Continuing south we encountered our first rough seas before arriving at Macquarie Island with its Royal and King Penguins amongst other impressive wildlife. This was our final landing before heading south towards the Ross Sea. We were blessed with mostly calm seas and were escorted by a range of albatrosses - we saw eleven different species in total as we sailed. Ice conditions were unusual this year which precluded a landing at Cape Adare, but we did reach Ross Island to make landings at Cape Evans to visit Scott's hut and Cape Royds to visit Shackleton's hut. The scenery, weather, wildlife and the historic sites were unforgettable and wonderful. Our first attempt to view the Ross Ice Shelf - the Barrier - was aborted because of katabatic winds but we did manage to return in near-perfect conditions a few days later. Heading back north we landed on Franklin Island with its huge Adelie colony and spectacular ice, and then it was time to start to return north, passing the Balleny Islands (and seeing a lunar eclipse as a bonus!) before the final journey through the screaming sixties, furious fifties and roaring forties. We did have some high seas, but arrived safely at our last port of call on Campbell Island. This was a perfect finale to the trip with incredibly close and intimate encounters with the worlds largest flying bird - Southern Royal Albatrosses.

The trip was led by Rodney Russ, a truly inspiring expedition leader with an encyclopaedic knowledge of all things subantarctic and Antarctic and over fifty expeditions here under his belt. His knowledge and willingness to do everything possible to get us the very best out of every day was hugely appreciated. Rodney was aided and abetted by a superb team, Lisle Gwynn and Sarah Gutowsky with their fantastic knowledge of the wildlife, especially the birds, and Olga Belonovich and her understanding of all things cetacean. Stephen Hicks shared his passion for Antarctic history with us with a series of lectures, and last but certainly not least Heidi Dohn who must be the best cruise director in the world, and the two excellent chefs Ed Roberts and Lance Canning, who made sure we never lacked for abundant and super sustenance.

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