Taupo

Well, that was the first night I really didn’t feel comfortable at all, with no other campers around, somewhere in the rainforest, such heavy rain and wind, unbelievable. But of course, I didn’t encounter any axe murderer there and survived the night without any problems. So I continued along the Forgotten World Highway, and the next stop was the National Park village and the visitor center at the Tongariro Alpine Crossing. I would have loved to do this hike, but it was pouring rain on site and they definitely advised against doing it due to safety concerns. Accordingly, I had no views either, but well, let's take it as it is. I still wanted to do a hike, but the 2-hour Taranaki Falls was too long for me in continuous rain, so I decided to see the Tawhai Fall (Gollum Pool), which was only about 30 minutes. So, drenched, I continued towards Taupo. In retrospect, that was the best thing I could have done because in Taupo, the sun would occasionally peek through the rain; it wasn’t constantly depressing. My first stop there was at McDonald's, strange? Yes, but wait, there’s a plane there where you can actually eat, I mean, how cool is that? It tasted three times better. So, you actually go up stairs into the plane; everything is at the front, the cockpit, which is quite funny. The next stop was then my favorite spot, which I was really looking forward to: Craters of the Moon: Craters of the Moon is a geothermal park near Taupō, where hot steam springs, bubbling mud pools, and steaming craters rise from the earth. You walk on wooden paths through a moon-like landscape and see how actively the earth