Snares Images

After a splendid sail up from Enderby Island the Snares came into view mid-afternoon. Eponymously named (like the North and South Traps), in the 18th century the Snares were the bane of sailing vessels in the Roaring Forties hereabouts.

Said to have a greater concentration of seabirds than any other place in the world, the Snares are a major heritage site at which landing is prohibited. We were keen however, to visit Hoho Bay, a hole in the cliffs on the eastern side of the main island. We entered this tiny nook with bated breath and little manoeuvering space. Crowds of penguins, seals and sea lions watched curiously from the steep cliffs on each side, rather like spectators on South Head at the start of a Hobart race. There is a single mooring buoy in the centre of the bay but no swinging room – you would need to take a line ashore to use the mooring and the surge would make for an uncomfortable berth. As I did an 8 point turn to depart, I expected our many observers to hold up performance score cards.

So excited and preoccupied were we that, to my eternal shame, I neglected to take a single photograph of this extraordinary little haven.

 

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