January 4, 2006 - page 2

Though the summit of the volcano and the lava caves were spectacular, the highlight of the day was when we returned to the pier as we waited for the ferry back to the city.  As we waited, a few of us began to jump off the high-dive like pier into the blue ocean water below.  Centre students began to jump, flip, and dive into the water, as local Kiwi cheered us on and eventually joined in.  Fathers and sons alike put down their fishing poles and began to leap into the cold waters below as screams of “Geronimo” and “I can fly” echoed.

The second day of class began with a lecture from Dr. Ian Smith, our guest speaker from Auckland University.  In this lecture Dr. Smith educated the class about the volcanic field surrounding Auckland, a rather interesting area to many Volcanologists.  We learned that for the past few days we had been staying in a city built on forty-nine volcanoes and thus any time could be the end for much of the city.

After meeting with Dr. Smith, the class continued to Northhead, a volcano just outside Auckland in the suburb of Devonport.  Atop Northhead, huge iron guns and military bunkers were placed in the late 1890s as defense weapons