Encounters that seal the deal

Caroline cruised with her husband, Wally, and daughters Katherine, 21, and Samantha, 16, on a subantarctic cruise with Orion Expedition Cruises (orionexpeditions.com).

THE EXPERIENCE

"Macquarie Island was the big highlight of our cruise. It was an amazing time."

We went on to the island and had elephant seal pups coming up to us on the beach. We were told you can't approach the wildlife but if you just sit there or stand there, they come towards you.

They were so inquisitive and to have one rest his head on both my husband and daughter's laps was unbelievable. They look at you with their doey eyes and they just melt your heart. Then you see what they look like when they're older and they turn into such ugly things!

Also, to sit there and watch penguins march past in groups of three or four and to watch Royal penguins play and swim in the shallows, it was just like being in a David Attenborough documentary.

The penguins stop and look at you as if to say, 'What are you doing here?' When you see them on land they're a bit ungainly but when they get into the water they're so elegant.

There was a big penguin colony on one part of the island and there had to be 200,000 of them. They had lots of babies, at that cute, fluffy stage. Having 200,000 penguins looking at you is just incredible. And the noise was deafening.

We'd had a bit of rough weather but that really brought the wildlife and birds out. The albatrosses were amazing, you would see them just riding the wind; they very rarely flap their wings.

We also went through the research station on the island and they showed us some equipment from the old whaling days.

The rangers had so much knowledge of the wildlife and told us about various projects they're doing for the conservation of the island. There was also an iceberg breaking up on to the beach on the island, so we got to have a look at that.

It was our first cruise. My eldest daughter is a zoologist and at the time was at university finishing her degree so we looked at it as our last family holiday before she headed off into the big wide world.

It was the trip of a lifetime. We're really looking forward to our long-service leave and will do a couple more cruises."

VALUE FOR MONEY

All shore excursions were included as part of the cruise fare.

"I think the whole cruise was good value. The fact that we got to go out and have these amazing wildlife experiences really made it."

SHAME ABOUT

"The weather was at times uncomfortable - but not enough to spoil the trip."

- As told to Jane E. Fraser

Have you done an interesting shore excursion? Drop us a line at travelshd@fairfaxmedia.com.au.