Today we anchor off Enderby Island, part of the Auckland Island chain. All of the five islands comprising New Zealand's Sub Antarctic Islands are National Nature Reserves and therefore strictly protected. We surf our zodiacs into the rolling swells to a landing beach where there is a small research station and view one of the few major Hooker's sea lion colonies in the world. Hooker's sea lions are aggressive animals; they can charge very fast, as a few of our photographers found out. Because of this and the extremely strong winds on the plateau, I chose to paint in an intimate, tangled rata forest near the beach.


Painting the Rata Forest of Enderby Island 11:00 am. (photo by Daisy Gilardini)


Rata Forest, Enderby Island (watercolor, 10 x15)

I hope to catch a glimpse of the very shy yellow-eyed penguin, a solitary nester that is considered to be the world's most endangered penguin. It breeds on Enderby. We'd already seen 2 yellow-eyed penguins as we landed.


Yellow-eyed Penguins (photo by Daisy Gilardini)

The canopy of the rata forest acts as a shelter from the constant fine rain, although some does fall in the wet paint, creating the feel and texture of moss. One has to be careful of the songbirds, as they have dropped more than just rain on my painting! I left an empty spot in the composition just in case a yellow eyed penguin walks through the forest.

Drawing the limbs and mosses of this wind sculpted oasis takes me back full circle to 20 years ago when I first studied watercolor at the Ontario College of Art and Design with the master Chin Kok Tan. I was looking for a medium that was light and transparent and would help me interpret the light or force that animates this beautiful planet.

The Polar Regions are the last great wilderness and have many secrets to reveal. The regions are a place of immense space. If one is fortunate enough to experience that space, he can witness the movements of his own mind.

More information
To see more pictures of Enderby Island, including views of the rata forest and megaherbs, visit http://www.livingtravel.com/antarctica/enderby/enderby_01.htm

Hooker's sea lion, phocarcto hookeri, is rare and endangered. New Zealand's Sub Antarctic islands were granted UNESCO "World Heritage" status in 1998, when a calamitous number (53 percent of the year's pups) of Hooker's sea lions died from an unknown cause. To learn more visit http://marinebio.org/species.asp?id=305.

The yellow-eyed penguin is the third largest penguin, after the emperor and the king. Its eyes are yellow-orange, and a yellow band of feathers circles its eyes and head. In contrast to other penguins, the yellow-eyed is solitary, nesting in tall grasses. Because its habitat has been curtailed and non-endemic predators like cats, dogs, and ferrets have decimated the population, the yellow-eyed penguin is considered rare. Visit http://www.siec.k12.in.us/~west/proj/penguins/yellow.html

To read another traveler's account of yellow-eyed penguins in the rata forest, visit http://www.communigate.co.uk/ne/penguins/page12.phtml.

To see more photos and to learn about a trust that is working to restore natural habitats and increase the population of yellow-eyed penguins, visit http://www.yellow-eyedpenguin.org.nz/.