Saturday, 31 December: Leigh Marine Reserve

As the rain drizzled down on the beginning of day 3 in New Zealand, we piled into the van to head north to the Leigh Marine Reserve and Leigh Marine Laboratory.  We were guided through the marine laboratory by the manager, Rebecca Goffin and a former graduate student from the laboratory, Bhakti, who shared with us the origins of the laboratory and information on local fishes and food webs.  Everyone had a blast handling the live sea creatures in the center's 'water table'.  Following our tour, we hiked on one of the trails near the center and swam in the turbid waters of the marine reserve.  Sun shown for most of our time at the reserve and even followed us to our stop in Matakana, where we stopped for a nice summertime treat: ice cream! 

Back in Auckland, folks are gearing-up for New Year's Eve.  Here in New Zealand, we're 6 hours ahead of New York, so we'll welcome the New Year first and wish everyone at home a happy and safe New Year's Eve!