Takapuna Fossil Forest

Lake Pupuke fills the craters of one of Auckland's oldest volcanoes. It erupted about 200 000 to 250 000 years ago. The thin neck of land which separates the lake from the sea is formed of Pupuke lava flows and these are well exposed along the coastal walkway between Milford and Takapuna. Lava flows were erupted at a time of lower sea level and in places the flowing lava overwhelmed a growing forest. Near Takapuna, moulds of tree branches and tree trunks are preserved in the lava flows - the hot lava would have set the trees and branches on fire but the shapes of trees and branches were preserved in the actual lava when it cooled and solidified.

Look for the moulds of large branches and see if you can see detail of wood grain or bark. There are some good moulds a few minutes walk to north of the end of Brett Avenue, and also some vertical moulds of tree trunks. The largest tree mould - about 1.5 m across - has a metal grill over the top, for safety. At low tide, you can see lava moulds of the lower parts of many standing tree trunks (more than a hundred) projecting above the lava surface which forms the reef offshore from the car park. An exploration of the lava flows show many interesting features such as lobe shapes, surface cracking and ropy lava (pahoehoe)