Royal New Zealand Navy ship HMNZS Wellington arrived in Dunedin on Saturday after two weeks of ''resupply and maintenance'' work in the Auckland Islands.
The island archipelago, 465km south of the South Island, includes Auckland, Adams, Enderby, Disappointment, Ewing, Rose, Dundas and Green islands.
There are no permanent human inhabitants on the islands.
Crew members have been helping the Department of Conservation with maintenance work, including taking supplies and building equipment ashore, and helping with the restoration of historic sites and eradicating pests, a navy spokeswoman said.
''The ship's company had numerous opportunities to brave the wind, rain and cold to help out or take a walk around, befriending the wildlife and getting to know the history of these impressive islands.''
Wellington is one of two navy offshore patrol vessels.
In recent years, the ship has undertaken several patrols in the Southern Ocean, conducting surveillance operations and boarding fishing vessels, supporting Doc bases in the subantarctic islands and visiting McMurdo Sound in the Antarctic. Wellington is due to leave Dunedin at 3pm today.
