To the south of Lake Taupo is the huge Tongariro national park around the base of Mount Tongariro rising to 2797 meters (9177 feet.) Rather than climb to the summit or hike all the way around the volcanic mountain, we took a short "nature" hike not far from the visitor center.
The hike was short but interesting with plants and trees labeled so we had an idea of what we were looking at.
Not far from the visitor center was the site where part of the Lord of the Rings was filmed. We skipped Hobbitton but couldn't resist stopping at Gollum's Pool.
It has been a while since I've seen the movies, but I tried to capture the rock on which Gollum squatted while chomping down on a freshly caught fish. I searched the water to see if I might have a snack too but I saw nothing.
Back in Taupo, we stopped briefly downtown and I noticed a toy shop. In the window! Two KUBB games! We hadn't brought our set and am tempted to pick one up so we can play sometime during the rest of our trip.