Tuesday, February 11th
This morning we had a lecture on the geology of Auckland and its coastlines with Dr. John Walsby. 
An interesting fact that we learned was that New Zealand is 70% made up of greywacke, which is a type of sandstone! He then led us on a field trip to explore some of the distinctive environments on the northern coastline. Our first stop was Lake Pupuke which is a freshwater lake and the crater of a volcano that last erupted 140,000 years ago!
Birds around or on the lake.
On Takapuna Beach we saw examples of fossilized trees that were trapped by the lava.
We enjoyed a buffet lunch at a local restaurant overlooking Cheltenham Beach and in the distance we viewed Rangitoto, a volcanic island. It is one of about 50 volcanoes in Auckland.
When we returned to the city center of Auckland, a group of us visited the New Zealand Maritime Museum. Its exhibits do a wonderful job of giving a visitor New Zealand’s maritime history and more. Unfortunately we arrived late in the day and needed to hurry through the museum. You really need several hours to see and experience the exhibitions.
We booked dinner at Orbit 360˚ restaurant which is on level 52. With our reservation we could arrive 45 minutes early and visit Sky Tower, which is on level 60 and has fantastic views of Auckland and the main observation area is on level 51. Our experience was fantastic.
