With the one-year anniversary of our expedition to Campbell Island upon us, I have dragged out the video tapes and taken a trip down memory lane. One video that I know many of you were hoping to see was of our trip down to the island – charging through the raging seas of the roaring forties and furious fifties. Who can forget the excitement of the departure, with this being the first sojourn for the Royal New Zealand Navy’s Offshore Patrol Vessels (...
THE JOURNEY
Getting There & Back
Back to Normal
Carla Meurk
14 Feb 2011 - 19:19
In the final days of the CIBE I was kept busy engaging with the tourists aboard the Spirit of Enderby, other CIBE team members tidied up fieldwork and Steve C. boarded up the windows of the Met Service building, our home for the past 9 weeks, to protect the glass panes from storm damage as the Island will be uninhabited by people until next summer. Having loved my time on Campbell I was not looking forward to ‘normal’ life; I contemplated with dread having to check my email and...
Do you get seasick?
-SMcM.jpg "'Wellington' whisk Kevin Stinson and XO Layman with DOC staff Pete and Dave checking the gear manifest list")
-SMcM.jpg "The HMNZS Wellington in harbour at Bluff")
-SMcM.jpg "On the bridge of the Wellington")
-SMcM.jpg "My home for the trip to Campbell Island – very cosy")
-SMcM.jpg "We're on our way, with the Otago ready to follow")
-SMcM.jpg "The Harbour Master leaving the Wellington as we depart Bluff harbour")
-SMcM.jpg "My first view of the southern ocean as we come into the lee of Campbell Island")
Shelley McMurtrie
9 Dec 2010 - 10:25
-SMcM.jpg "'Wellington' whisk Kevin Stinson and XO Layman with DOC staff Pete and Dave checking the gear manifest list")
-SMcM.jpg "The HMNZS Wellington in harbour at Bluff")
-SMcM.jpg "On the bridge of the Wellington")
-SMcM.jpg "My home for the trip to Campbell Island – very cosy")
-SMcM.jpg "We're on our way, with the Otago ready to follow")
-SMcM.jpg "The Harbour Master leaving the Wellington as we depart Bluff harbour")
-SMcM.jpg "My first view of the southern ocean as we come into the lee of Campbell Island")
It is a funny thing but the one topic of conversation on a ship heading to the Subantarctics isn’t about the splendor of your destination but about whether or not you will be bringing up your lunch on the way down. Thanks to a work Christmas function on my last night in Christchurch I had plenty of gory seasick disaster stories (thanks Dave!) vying for attention in my mind to keep my immediate future ripe with technicolour possibilities…
Of course in usual style we...
renewing acquaintances
Mark Crompton
8 Dec 2010 - 20:35
We sailed from Bluff at 21.30 NZDT on Monday 06 December 2010 aboard the HMNZS Wellington. The Campbell Island Bicentennial Expedition was underway after a gestation period of nearly five years. As we entered Foveaux Strait I retired to my bunk where I remained for the entire voyage apart from one brief foray up to the bridge. My impression of the Southern Ocean was that there is a lot of it.
The forbidding coast of Campbell Island was sighted at first light on Wednesday 08...
Ginger seas
Alex James
8 Dec 2010 - 13:30
After a busy morning of loading all and sundry onto the HMNZS Wellington we finally left Bluff Harbour at 8 p.m. on Monday December 6th, heading into relatively calm seas. Armed with both Sealegs tablets and ‘natural’ ginger anti-nausea pills I was hopeful although a little apprehensive on my sea sickness potential.
Over that night from the tight confines of my allocated bunk of adequate length but miniscule headroom I could feel the seas becoming angry. I kept taking...
Cue TV Interview
Shelley McMurtrie
6 Dec 2010 - 20:30
On the day of their departure, Sarah Bedford (Cue TV) interviewed Shelley McMurtrie (Expedition Coordinator) about the upcoming expedition to Campbell Island. Sarah wanted to know about the research, but more importantly, what the team was going to crave while on this remote island for 9 weeks.
[Shelley McMurtrie]
3 Days of Quarantine
-SMcM.jpg "The main store room where the food is put into bins and gear arranged")
-SMcM.jpg "Packing the food so that each bin is about 20kg - saves any stuffed backs during the loading/unloading")
-SMcM.jpg "It looks like a mess but there's a method there somewhere!")
-SMcM.jpg "Teir two of the quarantine process - packing gear in the quarantine room")
-SMcM.jpg "Loading up the trucks. Thank god for Gilly and the wee forklift!")
-SMcM.jpg "Anyone know where the nearest petrol station is?")
-SMcM.jpg "Cheryl from DOC cleaning the wheels of the trailer")
-SMcM.jpg "The final gear to be loaded - Alex Fergus' insect nets")
Shelley McMurtrie
6 Dec 2010 - 14:30
-SMcM.jpg "The main store room where the food is put into bins and gear arranged")
-SMcM.jpg "Packing the food so that each bin is about 20kg - saves any stuffed backs during the loading/unloading")
-SMcM.jpg "It looks like a mess but there's a method there somewhere!")
-SMcM.jpg "Teir two of the quarantine process - packing gear in the quarantine room")
-SMcM.jpg "Loading up the trucks. Thank god for Gilly and the wee forklift!")
-SMcM.jpg "Anyone know where the nearest petrol station is?")
-SMcM.jpg "Cheryl from DOC cleaning the wheels of the trailer")
-SMcM.jpg "The final gear to be loaded - Alex Fergus' insect nets")
It's 3pm on Monday (6th Dec) and in around five hours we will be on the HMNZS Wellington making our way to Campbell Island. Just enough time then to get some photos loaded and write a quick blog! Sorry but I didn't manage to get a video clip together (gave up editing around 11pm last night).
So lets backtrack to last Friday...
Alex James, Mark Crompton, and I flew down to Invercargill on Friday (3rd Dec) while Colin and co. had driven down the previous day....
Undergoing Quarantine
Shelley McMurtrie
5 Dec 2010 - 16:30
Alex J, Mark C, and I arrived early Friday arvo and there was no time to waste; we were thrown right into the thick of the quarantine process. I must say, there's nothing like spending time in a warehouse with the bright sun overhead to help acclimatise for Campbell Island - was more suited to preparing for humid tropical rainforests! Can you believe it, Invercargill was in the mid-to-high twenties.
By the time Sunday arvo rolled around we were all done, and only a couple of...
Loading the van
-SMcM.jpg "Erron Henderson (Manager of EOS) showing Alex and Shelley how to use the satellite phone - it works!")
-SMcM.jpg "Amber and Michelle from EOS loading up the van - good tetris packing skills")
-SMcM.jpg "Colin helping to load the most important item - the generator!")
-SMcM.jpg "Shelley having a photo shoot with The Press photographer while the EOS crew work hard in the background")
-SMcM.jpg "Alex J with a load for the trailer")
-SMcM.jpg "Nick from EOS loading up the trailer")
-SMcM.jpg "Waving goodbye - only an 8hr drive with a full van and trailer Colin!")
Shelley McMurtrie
3 Dec 2010 - 14:35
-SMcM.jpg "Erron Henderson (Manager of EOS) showing Alex and Shelley how to use the satellite phone - it works!")
-SMcM.jpg "Amber and Michelle from EOS loading up the van - good tetris packing skills")
-SMcM.jpg "Colin helping to load the most important item - the generator!")
-SMcM.jpg "Shelley having a photo shoot with The Press photographer while the EOS crew work hard in the background")
-SMcM.jpg "Alex J with a load for the trailer")
-SMcM.jpg "Nick from EOS loading up the trailer")
-SMcM.jpg "Waving goodbye - only an 8hr drive with a full van and trailer Colin!")
Wednesday dawned and the calmness of the day was broken by the sound of packing tape and the click of the camera shutter. The big packup day had arrived and we looked at the van and small trailer and wished we had ordered up the Tardis instead. But the 'Tetris' packing skills of team EOS were impressive as boxes were crammed into the smallest spaces. It should be said that Colin and I managed to get out of some of the packing when we were interviewed by The Press' environmental...
The packing continues
-SMcM.jpg "Amber from EOS and CIBE member Carla packing the gear - this all has to fit in the van and trailer!")
-SMcM.jpg "Michelle from EOS recording important info")
-SMcM.jpg "Alex J from EOS marking his gear")
-SMcM.jpg "Michelle and Amber from EOS doing more labelling")
-SMcM.jpg "Amber from EOS packing up our sample pottles")
Shelley McMurtrie
30 Nov 2010 - 15:30
-SMcM.jpg "Amber from EOS and CIBE member Carla packing the gear - this all has to fit in the van and trailer!")
-SMcM.jpg "Michelle from EOS recording important info")
-SMcM.jpg "Alex J from EOS marking his gear")
-SMcM.jpg "Michelle and Amber from EOS doing more labelling")
-SMcM.jpg "Amber from EOS packing up our sample pottles")
The team at EOS Ecology spent another day packing up the gear for the Campbell Island expedition. Under a sea of pottles, tape, and boxes they did a fantastic job cleaning, packing, and labelling everyone's gear. Thanks guys - a stellar effort considering most of you aren't even going to the island! We all appreciate your hard work and on-going support of this project!
[Shelley McMurtrie]
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