Jake and Isi in Middle-Earth

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Jake and Isi in Middle-Earth
Te Mata Peak II
December 6, 2020 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C
The Te Mata Hills were looking a lot greener than last time we were here. We walked a different walk this time but still went to the top.
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Jake and Isi in Middle-Earth
Maraetotara Falls
December 6, 2020 in New Zealand ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C
After the Hastings Farmers Market in the morning and a hike on the Te Mata Hills we decided to cool off at the Maraetotara Falls. While Isi just went for a quick swim Jake jumped from a tree and the falls into the water.Read more
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Jake and Isi in Middle-Earth
Route 52
December 7, 2020 in New Zealand ⋅ ☁️ 24 °C
From Hastings we took a more scenic and rural route instead of driving along the highway down towards Masterton.
Our first stops were Mangakuri Beach and Blackhead Beach (Te Angiangi Marine Reserve) where we saw quite a few Oystercatchers. Afterwards we stopped at the place with the longest name in the world: Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipukakapikimaungahoronukupokaiwhenuakitanatahu. It's a hill and it means something like this: The summit where Tamatea, the man with the big knees, the slider, climber of mountains, the land-swallower who travelled about, played his flute to his loved one.
The last picture is quite a common scence for NZ roads. We had to drive through all those sheep 🐑Read more
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Jake and Isi in Middle-Earth
Masterton II
December 7, 2020 in New Zealand ⋅ 🌬 20 °C
As we passed through Masterton again we had to stop by at Mick and Ondys place. Ondy made a lamb roast dinner and we had pavlova for desert. As usual we also had Micks home brew. It's always good to see these two!Read more
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Jake and Isi in Middle-Earth
Castlepoint
December 8, 2020 in New Zealand ⋅ ☁️ 22 °C
Castlepoint was one of our favourite beaches. We first walked to the lighthouse and then climbed up Castle Rock which is 162m high. Even though it was very windy the views were just amazing!
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Jake and Isi in Middle-Earth
Putangirua Pinnacles
December 9, 2020 in New Zealand ⋅ 🌧 18 °C
We revisited the Putangirua Pinnacles because it's such a cool place and we had a day to spare before heading back to Wellington.
The last post of the pinnacles was focused on LOTR so this time there's some geological information:
The Putangirua Pinnacles consist of a large number of earth pillars located in the Aorangi Ranges. About 8 million years ago these ranges were an island. As this landmass was eroded over time, large alluvial fans (triangle-shaped deposits of gravel, sand and smaller pieces of sediment) were formed. Within a few million years the island was yet again submerged by water. Since the ice ages the old alluvial fans have been exposed to the erosive forces of wind and water which have weathered away the conglomerate. In some places this conglomerate is protected from erosion by a cap of cemented silt or rock. This has resulted in the formation of spectacular pinnacles.Read more
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Jake and Isi in Middle-Earth
Wellington Weekend Visit
December 12, 2020 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C
As our ferry to the South Island was booked for Monday we decided to stop over in Wellington for the weekend. We stayed with our friends Hannah and Max at their place on Cuba Street. On Friday we went to the Southern Cross to have 2 for 1 cocktails and hung out with Isi's work friends. Unfortunately we didn't take any pictures. On Saturday we went to Oriental Bay and climbed outside with Max and Mattia. The first picture is also from Oriental Bay. The Pohutukawa tree is known as the NZ Christmas tree as it blooms red and green around Christmas time. In the evening we made Pizza with our friends Hannah, Max, Stephen, Mattia and Frank. On Sunday we went bouldering in Lower Hutt with Mattia, Frank and Liam and then had ice cream at with Hannah and Max. It was a great weekend! We're sad to leave again 😢Read more
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Jake and Isi in Middle-Earth
Ferry to the South Island Volume 2
December 14, 2020 in New Zealand ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C
We crossed islands again and took the Interislander ferry from Wellington in the North Island to Picton in the South Island. It was sunnier than the last two times so we spent most of the journey on the outside deck. We were really lucky and saw a Little Blue Penguin in the water 🐧 and albatrosses in the sky.Read more
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Jake and Isi in Middle-Earth
Kaikoura South Bay
December 15, 2020 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C
After spending the night in Blenheim we drove towards Kaikoura. On the way we stopped at Ohau Point to watch the seals. Can you spot them in the first picture?!
In Kaikoura we chilled on the beach for a bit and then headed to South Bay for lunch and a walk on the rocks.Read more
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Jake and Isi in Middle-Earth
Leithfield Beach
December 15, 2020 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C
We stopped at this beautiful beach in Leithfield for an afternoon swim. It was Jake's first swim on the South Island for this season. Isi was happy with just dipping her feet in 🌊
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Jake and Isi in Middle-Earth
Lake Tekapo II
December 16, 2020 in New Zealand ⋅ ☁️ 22 °C
We revisited Lake Tekapo and the Church of the Good Shepherd. The water of the lake is just so blue!
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Jake and Isi in Middle-Earth
Lupin Fields
December 16, 2020 in New Zealand ⋅ ☁️ 23 °C
The flowering season of Lupins is from November to January and the most common place to find them is within the Mackenzie Basin. This includes Lake Tekapo where we took these pictures. They flower in all sorts of different colours like purple, pink, blue, white and yellow. You can smell them while you're driving past 🌺Read more
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Jake and Isi in Middle-Earth
Lake Pukaki
December 16, 2020 in New Zealand ⋅ ☁️ 24 °C
Last time we were on the South Island we drove past this spot twice and both times it was too foggy to see anything at all. So it was really nice to get a good view of Lake Pukaki this time round. Right in the back you can get a glimpse of Mount Cook (Aoraki).Read more
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Jake and Isi in Middle-Earth
Lindis Pass
December 16, 2020 in New Zealand ⋅ ☁️ 23 °C
As we drove from Lake Pukaki to Wanaka we quickly stopped on top of Lindis Pass to take a picture of the beautiful scenery.
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Jake and Isi in Middle-Earth
Hospital Flat Climbing
December 17, 2020 in New Zealand ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C
We decided to go climbing in Wanaka. The Hospital Flat Conservation Area was the perfect place for it. Lots and lots of routes in different styles and grades. Jake called it the Climbers Paradise 🧗🏼‍♀️🧗🏼Read more
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Jake and Isi in Middle-Earth
Glendhu Bay
December 17, 2020 in New Zealand ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C
After climbing we went for a short walk around the nearby Diamond Lake. Afterwards we went to Glendhu Bay to go swimming in Lake Wanaka. It was the perfect day for a swim ☀️
The last picture is Wanakas waterfront.Read more
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Jake and Isi in Middle-Earth
Crown Range Road
December 18, 2020 in New Zealand ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C
The Crown Range Road in the Cardrona Valley is the highest paved highway in NZ. It connects Wanaka and Queenstown and reaches an altitude of 1121 metres.
Our first stop was the famous bra fence. In 1999 four bras mysteriously appeared overnight on a fence along the road. After that people just kept adding more and more bras to the fence. In 2015 the fence was rebranded to "Bradrona" to raise money for breast cancer.
The next stop was at the Cardrona Hotel which was built in 1863 and is one of NZ's oldest hotels. It's one of only two remaining buildings from the Cardrona Valley gold rush era and it serves very nice coffee.Read more
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Jake and Isi in Middle-Earth
Isi's Birthday
December 19, 2020 in New Zealand ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C
On the 18th of December we arrived at our wwoofing place. We're staying just outside of Arrowtown with Jörg who is originally from Karlsruhe, his two daughters Anna and Lina and Aya and Nori from Japan who also work here. Jörg owns a distillery, Broken Heart Spirits, where he makes all sorts of spirits but mostly gin. We're helping in the distillery and doing some jobs around the house in return for food and accommodation. So far we really like it here!

For Isi's birthday we went into Arrowtown to have ice cream. For dinner we put skewers on the barbecue and Jake made roast potatoes. We were so full afterwards we had to eat the birthday cake on the next day. There was room for gin though 🍸Read more
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Jake and Isi in Middle-Earth
Christmas Swim
December 25, 2020 in New Zealand ⋅ ⛅ 12 °C
The weather on Christmas day was really nice and sunny so we decided to go for a Christmas swim. We went to Kelvin Heights in Queenstown and swam in Lake Wakatipu. It was quite cold but really nice nonetheless. The mountain range you can see in the background of our picture are the Remarkables.Read more
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Jake and Isi in Middle-Earth
Christmas Day
December 25, 2020 in New Zealand ⋅ ⛅ 13 °C
Merry Christmas 🎅🏼🎄🌟

We spent Christmas with our wwoofing family. Jörg, his girlfriend Nadine and his friend Phil, Anna and her boyfriend Carlos, Aya, Nori and the neighbours Tony and Fleur were here for dinner. We had turkey that was prepared on the bbq, roast potatoes and vegetables. Isi made Plätzchen (Christmas cookies) which we had for dessert.Read more
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Jake and Isi in Middle-Earth
Glenorchy
December 26, 2020 in New Zealand ⋅ ⛅ 8 °C
We went to the Glenorchy area for a day trip. The drive from Queenstown to Glenorchy was beautiful with many amazing views. Just a bit after Glenorchy is Paradise. We stopped here to admire the scenery as some scences of Lord of the Rings (Isengard and Lothlórien) were filmed around that area. Afterwards we went back to Glenorchy to do the Lagoon Walkway.Read more
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Jake and Isi in Middle-Earth
Ben Lomond
December 27, 2020 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 9 °C
The Ben Lomond Track in Queenstown is up there with one of the nicest day hikes that we have done so far. The mountain stands at 1748 m above sea level and was a 16 km return from the town centre. We started with the Tiki Trail which winds it's way up next to the Skyline Gondola. The way then heads towards Ben Lomond Saddle and from there it's a very steep 1.5 km hike to the summit. Once we arrived on top we were rewarded with stunning views over Queenstown, Lake Wakatipu and the surrounding mountains. We even saw a Kea (mountain parrot) at the top 🐦Read more
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Jake and Isi in Middle-Earth
Wye Creek
December 28, 2020 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 13 °C
We went climbing in Wye Creek. The way to the crag was quite a bit longer than we expected but once we saw the rock and the views we knew it was worth it. On the way there we met two other climbers, Johann and Meike. Johann knew the crag quite well so it was really nice of him to show us around and tell us about some good climbs. We had a lot of fun and climbed one of the nicest routes we have done in NZ so far 🧗🏼‍♀️🧗🏼Read more
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Jake and Isi in Middle-Earth
New Year's Eve
December 31, 2020 in New Zealand ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C
Happy New Year! 🥳🥂
We spent New Years at our wwoofing place with Jörg, Nadine, Aya, Nori, Tony and Fleur. We made pizza in the new pizza oven, watched Dinner for One, played games and had lots of drinks and fun.Read more
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Jake and Isi in Middle-Earth
Moke Lake
January 3, 2021 in New Zealand ⋅ 🌧 14 °C
The first days of the new year were rather rainy and wet but on the third we decided to go for a walk anyway. We went to Moke Lake just outside Queenstown and walked the Lake Circuit. It was a nice walk and lake and mountains looked really cool in the mist.Read more
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