Landfall at last!

 This morning we did a short excursion onto Hardwicke in Port Ross at the top of the Auckland Islands. Got to shore on Zodiacs and went for a couple of really short walks.

Our ship Heritage Adventurer, seen through trees from the shore.

One of the Zodiacs.

First stop - cemetery 

This is a bell bird! Not like ours at all, it has more of a bell-like song, not just a single note. But look at the blue feet!

This is an ORCHID!, just the bud, sorry it’s not a good pic.

New Zealand’s answer to a blaze tree! Commemorates the shipwreck on the island.

The forest we walked through. Rata trees - they do this “shyness “ thing where the leaves of a tree may move with the wind but do not touch the leaves of their neighbours. The soil is peat, very rich but very muddy and I think quite shallow.