One of the primary reasons I came to Taupo was to go to the nearby Tongariro National Park, home to the Tongariro Alpine Crossing Hike, a very famous hike that goes through a volcanic crater, with views of many Lord of the Rings filming locations. The hike is about 19km long and goes over the mountain, so most hikers park in a parking lot on the north side, then take a shuttle to the south side and hike back to their cars. However, as I was driving to Taupo I got an email that due to weather conditions the service would not be offered today, so I had to spend a while last night coming up with some alternate plans.

On the bright side, I was able to sleep in a bit. Instead of needing to drive an hour and take a 7am shuttle, I had booked a 10:30am cruise right at the Taupo Marina. I got a chance to check out the lakefront briefly as well. Taupo is located on Lake Taupo, the largest lake by surface area in New Zealand. At about 620 square kilometers, it is a bit more than half the size of Lake St Clair. It is actually a caldera lake, and was once a supervolcano that erupted 25,600 years ago.

My boat today would be the Ernest Kemp. Built in 1980, it was designed to look like a steamship, but it is diesel powered. We pulled out of the Taupo Marina (which is actually located on the Waikato River, the longest river in New Zealand) and entered Lake Taupo. We took a meandering 45 minute cruise before making it to Mine Bay, home of the Ngatoroirangi Rock Carvings. These carvings may appear ancient, but they were actually made in the 1980s by a local artist who wanted to honor his ancestor (at his grandmother's request). Unable to find a suitable tree, he instead found this large rock face and decided to make the carving on it.

The rock carvings were cool but it was raining quite heavily as we sailed back in. I made it to my car and drove about 10 minutes down the road to Huka Falls, a set of waterfalls on the Waikato River that have a beautiful blue hue. First I walked onto a bridge directly over the falls, then drove a couple of minutes around the corner to a vantage point above a hill overlooking the falls.

The falls and the rock carvings were all I had planned for Taupo since my hike was cancelled, so I got ready to head to Rotorua, about an hour away. Rotorua is the city in New Zealand with the largest Maori population, and is in a convenient location to many tourist attractions, so I planned to go there for two nights. Along the side of the road just north of the falls is the Huka Honey Hive, a store all about honey and honey-related products, and I stopped inside to take advantage of some free samples.

I drove an hour to Rotorua, stopping only once to attempt to fill up gas, however the station was currently un-manned so motorists needed to use the self-service terminals to pay, and it would not accept my credit card because I have no PIN. Luckily, I had enough gas to make it to Rotorua.

After arriving in Rotorua I checked into my hostel, Rock Solid Backpackers. As the name alludes to, it is located in the same building as a climbing gym, and there are windows on each floor that look out onto the rock wall.

Since it is supposed to continue to be rainy on the North Island for the next few days, I decided to go to a store to buy an umbrella. I went to The Warehouse, a department store pretty similar to Target, but after wandering around for 20 minutes was unable to find an umbrella, even though online it said there were some in stock (where would you put an umbrella in a store?).

Hungry and umbrella-less, I went across town to Eat Streat, an area of Rotorua with lots of restaurants. I headed into Ambrosia, a restaurant that came recommended by many online, partly because they have a three-course meal deal before 7pm for only NZ$30 (about $20). I ate a cauliflower and vanilla soup, a braised lamb rump, and an ambrosia dessert, all of which were delicious.

After dinner I set out to find an umberlla again. My luck was better this time: I went to Countdown, a grocery store, and they had a whole rack of umbrellas for sale right near the entrance. After purchasing one for NZ$15, I headed back to my hostel to relax for the night, since I'd need to wake up early the next morning.