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A beautiful day to complete our visit to wonderful Macquarie Island.
Yesterday we had great conditions and the ship's crew and Larc worked tirelessly with station to get out all the remaining RTA. We have now filled the ship with almost all the rubbish and left just enough empty containers for the island to fill before Voyage 4 comes in March.
The Station Leader tells me the station is now a beautiful place having removed a veritable mountain of RTA, which has been unable to be retrieved over recent years. So it is a great feeling for all at station and ship to clean the place up in readiness for the next chapter in the life of the station. Inversely the hold of the ship now looks somewhat like a tidy garbage bin, crammed full of pallets of RTA cargo. This morning we completed cargo and retrieved one of the Larcs due to return home for servicing. The Larcs are the most difficult lift on any Macquarie island voyage because of their size and weight. As the Larc was lifted gently from the water it took 10 people holding tag lines to control the turn of the Larc and to limit movement in the low swell.
We are currently at Sandy Bay where the Larcs have delivered some new signs for the Tasmanian Parks and Wildlife Services tourist boardwalk. The Rangers have kindly allowed us to send ashore crew members who get very little chance to get off the ship ashore. This is a small thank you for the magnificent and tireless support they have given station and ship here over many years.
Once we finish here, we will return the ship and Larcs to station, board our round trip and returning personnel and depart for Hobart after tea tonight. The Master will give an estimated return date and time once we are at sea and he has charted a course.
We are looking forward to a good rest on the return journey, and the prospect of being home a little early.
Cheers, Don and Helen
Map
A map showing Australia and Antarctica. The map shows the journey of one voyage that has occured in the season, with each route highlighted in a distinct colour.