The conference didn't begin until Tuesday
the 11th, so we decided to spend our first day checking out
Auckland. A city
tour seemed to be just the ticket ,and so, after getting
settled in our comfortable three bedroom flat, off we went.
The first stop was the Auckland Skytower--1000 feet high.
From the top, we could see all of Auckland, including the
ground several hundred feet below. 
Then
there were the tower views--North,
South,
East,
West.
Then
it was on to cruise the bay and visit Rangotito, the
youngest volcano in the area. It last erupted less 600 years
ago.
Next
stop was Kelly Tarleton's penguin experience.
During
the next few days of the conference, we managed to visit the
Auckland Zoo where we saw some flightless Kiwi birds along
with a few other native bird species. The Kiwi is a
nocturnal animal, and can only be seen at night (unless
their in a manmade cave where night is eternal. The Kiwi is
very interesting--it has a long beak with nostrils on the
end. Their sense of smell is extremely well developed and
they use their noses to sniff out worms and other similar
delicacies. It was impossible to take a picture of the "real
thing," so this is a reasonable facsimile of the 18" tall
critter.
There
were many other birds and animals at the Zoo, but the only
other really interesting one was the native Tui bird with
its distinctive white throat puff.