Antarctica : New Zealand and Sub Antarctics Cruise

Protected by the Southern Ocean, secluded and seldom visited, the Australian and New Zealand Sub-Antarctic Islands are recognised by UNESCO as one of the world's precious regions of unique biodiversity.

These remote Nature Reserves enjoy World Heritage status, recognised for their volcanic and glacial geological formations and extraordinary diversity of flora and fauna - much of which is endangered or recovering since being discovered and later plundered in the late 1700’s and early 1800’s by sealers and whalers.

Home to over half of the world’s seabirds, some of which exist nowhere else, this wildlife paradise contains 40% of the world’s albatross species and 50% of the world’s penguin species including the endangered yellow-eyed penguin, plus hundreds of thousands of other endemic birds - petrels, prions and cormorants.

At Snares Island there is every expectation that guests will see Sooty Shearwaters, the endemic Snares Crested Penguins, Snares Fernbird and Tomtits. On Enderby Island expect to see pipits, parakeets and plovers, Hooker’s Sea Lions, and perhaps even the Auckland Island Flightless Teal and sub-Antarctic Snipe. Campbell Island, home to the Southern Royal Albatrosses, has the highest diversity of breeding albatrosses of any island in the world.

The Sub-Antarctics are also home to plant species that have to be seen to be believed, including 5-metre high tree daisies on Snares, giants compared to their relatives in more temperate climates. And no cruise to this region would be complete without also spending time exploring New Zealand’s beautiful Fiordlands - including Milford and Doubtful Sounds.