taupo

not much to tell about taupo. met a really cool girl from boulder, colorado. i was expecting to wait for good weather on the tongariro crossing, but as usual, i sset out earlier than i thought i would. i almost always feel shocked if i'm setting out before i expect it.

i went to Craters of the Moon. the craters were kinda small. not very intresting at most. pretty landscape though. not connection what-so-ever with the moon, as fas as i know there's no atmoshpere or vegetation up there [unless, of course, Luna City is real and hidden from us]. i saw the Hukka falls and spent a couple of hours lazing around in the sun in a free thermal stream running in the park near taupo, with the rest of the backpackers. people were walking around on the bridge above us, looking at the weird bunch of people lying on the rocks in swimming suits. next to the thermal stream was a very cold river. when it got too hot i took a swim to the river. some crazy japanese people were doing tandem bunjy jumps in a pretty awesome gorge. some crazy shit. they were bouncing up almost as high as the platform they jumped from.

they ended with me running around between the supermarkets trying to find a Square Meal for the tongariro northern circuit. they were hidden way up. i had to go to bed early, the bus was leaving at 5:45am the next day.