Tristan and beyond

Sunday – March 1, 2009
The seas are calm, the sun is out, albatross are flying (or should I say gliding) and land is not an option today. Tomorrow we arrive at the main island in the Tristan das Cunha Archipelago (Tristan da Cunha). This is a land where all I have heard is ‘you should see the potato patch’. At one point in the near past, the potato was the unit of currency – I kid you not. So I am traveling 4 plus days across the Southern Ocean to see what I could find at Ralph’s or Von’s. Is life bizarre or what?
I am still attempting to post a couple of images on the blog, but I’m not currently being successful. If I can’t post some images by the time I make South Africa, I will post some before being back in Thousand Oaks.
Monday – March 2, 2009
Tristan da Cunha is often referred to as the most remote inhabited land on Earth. The island is 1,326 miles south of St. Helena and 1,519 miles west of Cape Town. There are less than 300 people on the volcanic island ruled by Great Britain. We landed in the worst swells encountered so far. Just getting into the zodiac for the trip to shore was interesting with waves washing above the loading area, and then the sea and zodiac plunging 8 feet below. Then there was the ride to the ‘port’ which was another adventure. Once on the island there wasn’t a whole lot to do. We went on a hike to the last volcanic episode which nearly destroyed the only town on the island in 1961 (but I could have driven less than 300 miles into the Owens Valley to see lava flows. Then in the afternoon we were bused out to the famous potato patches (about 3 miles from town). These are small land areas separated by lava rock walls. Probably the most interesting thing pertaining to ‘the patches’ is that most have small ‘second’ homes adjacent to the patches. Cattle, sheep (not quite as many as New Zealand), dogs and some donkeys complete the livestock situation.
Some interesting facts: The school here has 28 students – and 7 teachers! Mail gets delivered 9 times a year. Only male dogs (neutered) are allowed on the island. It seems that when the population was evacuated in 1961 the animals were left behind, and the dogs feasted on the sheep until the population returned several years later. So the dog population is controlled.
We are offshore tonight waiting to take on several guides for tomorrow’s trip to nearby Nightingale and Inaccessible Islands (part of the Tristan da Cunha group). As a result, the ship keep rocking to port, then rocking to starboard, then…….. well, you get the idea. The stabilizers don’t work at all when there is no forward motion.
We are now on Greenwich Mean Time, or 8 hours ahead of California.
Tuesday – March 3, 2009
The morning was spent getting to Nightingale Island. We were met by Rockhopper penguins. They have head feathers that are both gaudy and long. They get there name because they really do hop from rock to rock. Really interesting. Then we went for a hike with the Tristan guides to see nesting Yellow-billed albatross. As we hiked the trail between tussock grass 8 feet high, we saw some nests right on the trail with really big chicks taking up the entire nest and then some. These were very fluffy birds. Most of the nests here are hidden in the tussock grass, but these albatross took a different route. As we would walk by the chick would ‘bill clack’ at us – kind of a snap of the bill very quickly to warn us not to mess with them. It was really hard to avoid the birds since the trail was only 6 feet wide. One adult came to the nest while I was there, and then the chick went crazy trying to get the adult to regurgitate food for the chick.
The afternoon was spent making a landing on Inaccessible Island. This is very rare as the usual attempt to land is not possible due to heavy swells, and only a few places to even land. The island has tremendous vertical walls. So we landed and were entertained by another colony of Rockhopper’s.
We returned to Tristan to offload the guides and some researchers we picked up from Inaccessible. Now we are traveling to Africa, with nothing in between. 1519 miles to go, with about 4 ½ days to get it done. As I write this, the ship is already rocking and rolling. It is going to be a long voyage to Cape Town.
I miss my wife, and the trip can’t end soon enough for me. Tomorrow is Karon’s birthday – so happy birthday honey!
Wednesday – March 4, 2009
Happy Birthday to Karon!
Gale force winds – same old story. I’m hunkered down in the cabin.