Page 42 - 2008 NZ Subantarctic Islands

We were greeted by a feisty Hooker’s sea lion as we made our

way from the landing site to the beginning of the boardwalk. He
was not really aggressive and did not impede our progress as we

walked on the iron sections of the pathway through the very
dense bushes and onto the meadow with its whitewashed

wooden portion. The path was about 18 inches wide and we had
been warned not to step off the pathway unless absolutely
necessary. The boardwalk made our walk very easy despite the

fact that it occasionally “stepped up” little hills. We really
appreciated the work of DOC personnel who had put it in when

we reached its ending about midway towards our destination.

Then our way became more laborious as we tussled our through
the tussocks and the other splendid megaherbs (see below). The

walk up to the ridge of Mount Lyall took about an hour and all the
while we were in awe at the superb scenery, sharply outlined by
the continuing blessed sunshine.

Our understanding of the early human history on this island would

never have prepared our senses for the pristine glory of the rocky
and lonely outpost just above the Southern Ocean. In the early

1800s the island was the scene of seal hunting (until the fur seals
were nearly exterminated there) and whaling (until overhunting

reduced their numbers to near extinction in that locale).

The slaughter continued until the early 1840s. Afterwards, the

island was left pretty much undisturbed and might have
recovered on its own until 1896 when it was leased out for sheep

and cattle husbandry. That almost fatal attack on the vegetation
continued until 1931 when the lease ran out and the government

decided not to reissue such rental agreements. An automated
weather station was placed on the island that had to be checked

infrequently. In 1954, the government gave all the islands of the
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