Campbell Island

An account of a remarkable voyage to Campbell Island, one of a cluster of sub-Antarctic island groups in a wild and isolated part of the Southern Ocean south of New Zealand.

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A gardener and natural history photographer, Derek Fell, inspired by the voyages of Captain Cook, decided to visit the 'land of the blue sunflower' for himself and witness the strange megaherbs (giant plant forms) that grow there. The expedition encompassed visits to Fiordland, Stewart Island, the Snares, the Auckland Islands, Campbell Island, Bounty Islands and Antipodes Islands-all with their own unique flora and fauna. Descriptions and photographs of the wildlife and environment are interwoven with stories of exploration, whalers and sealers, shipwrecks and castaways, and early attempts to farm this inhospitable land. More recent tales of conservation and scientific endeavour round out this book, including a dramatic rescue attempt by helicopter after a savage attack by a great white shark on a researcher working on the island.