Macquarie Island is Australia's overseas territory, located south-east of Tasmania, roughly between New Zealand and the South Pole, about 1500 km in straight line from Tasmania, 35 km in length and 5 km wide. The area is about 128 square kilometers.
Macquarie Island belongs to Tasmania, and together with three other islands, Bi Xiaopu (Bishop), Crick (Clerk) and Judy (Judge), the subAntarctic part of Tasmania,. Macquarie Island, has an average elevation of 240m. It is the only place on earth where rocks rise from below the mantle (6 km below the ocean). Macquarie Island and the surrounding 12 nautical miles of water, in addition to aesthetic values, but also extraordinary geological characteristics, was assessed by UNESCO as the World Natural Heritage in 1997.
With its beautiful scenery, rich marine resources, land resources and archaeological sites, Macquarie Island attracts a large number of tourists. In addition to more than 80 species of moss, there are at least 46 species of flowers, lichens, diatoms and so on. There are no trees or tall shrubs on the island, and tall grass is the tallest vegetation on the island. Hairy seals and native whales are the main animals, and other large animals such as walruses and sea lions are often seen here. There are also many other mammals on the island, with an estimated one hundred and fifty thousand hare from Europe in 1978, followed by measures to limit its development due to the size of the population. There are at least 72 species of birds on Macquarie Island, and penguins are among the largest on the island in recent years, with an estimated four hundred thousand birds in 1989.
There are no permanent residents on Macquarie Island, and (Australian Antarctic Division,AAD, Australia's Antarctic continent, has established a permanent base on the island, where about 20 to 40 scientists work and live each year.
The temperature of Macquarie Island is not too cold. The average temperature in July is the coldest in winter and 8.8degrees in January, which is the hottest in summer. There are no civil aviation flights on the island, and visitors can only visit by enrolling in fixed routes organized by tourist companies.
