Day 46 Mt. Taranaki

I wake up around 8 o'clock. Some campers next to me are already gone or out hiking. It was chilly up here overnight, had to put on the warm fleece jacket. That was the last time it happened was when there was snow in Wanaka a few weeks ago. The sun comes out for breakfast and it's suddenly warm. Mt. Taranaki is notorious for its unpredictable weather. The extremes are even more pronounced here than in the rest of the country. However, the summit is still shrouded in a noble cloud cover. Bring the travel journal up to date and head out to the walks to the Dawson Falls and the Wilkies Pools. The paths run through the forest, past heavily moss-covered trees. The Wilkies Pools are reached through an enchanted forest with lots of moss on the trees. The forest fascinates me again. At the Dawson Falls waterfall, there are also mosses in all sorts of colors to admire. Actually, I find waterfalls boring, but this one is different. In the afternoon, all the supplies in the refrigerator are used up, I need to stock up! Drive down from the volcano three quarters of an hour to the countdown market in Stratford. While I'm shopping, I accidentally start a conversation with the store manager, he's from Queenstown and we talk for a while. At the end of the conversation, I compliment him on his store. He asks me why I notice these details. I only give him a hint of what I do professionally and he blushes a little because of the compliment and thanks me three more times.

After the fridge is completely full, I drive to the other side of the volcano, the Mount Egmont Visitor Centre. There are also some very nice campers here. I brought a hot chicken from Countdown and go to sleep at 7:30 p.m. right after dinner. I wake up briefly later and pull out the huge VW bus bed.