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Jake and Isi in Middle-Earth
  • Isi Schwingen
  • Jake Searle
  • Isi Schwingen
  • Jake Searle

Jake and Isi in Middle-Earth

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  • Jake and Isi in Middle-Earth

    Oparara Arch

    March 17, 2021 in New Zealand ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C

    We drove along the Lewis Pass from Kaikoura on the east coast to Westport on the west coast. From there we went north to Karamea and then even more north to the Oparara Basin which is located in the Kahurangi National Park. Located in the Oparara Basin are the Oparara Arch and the Moria Gate Arch as well as the Crazy Caving and Box Canyon Caves.

    The Oparara Arch is 219 m long and with sides 79 m apart and a roof 43 m above the river that carved it. The Oparara River is coloured red because of natural tannins that are being washed into the river by rain from the surrounding forest.    Read more

  • Jake and Isi in Middle-Earth

    Box Canyon Cave

    March 17, 2021 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C

    The Box Canyon Cave is a huge dry cave that can be explored with just a headlamp. We went inside and had a good look around, exploring all the interesting features inside the cave.

  • Jake and Isi in Middle-Earth

    Wairau Lagoons

    March 19, 2021 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C

    After the Nelson Lakes we drove to Blenheim where we spent the day walking through town, relaxing and doing the Wairau Lagoons Walkway, an easy walk along the lagoons shoreline. During the walk we came past the wreck of the T. S. S. Waverley. The last picture is of a very interesting looking plant that's growing all along the walkway.Read more

  • Jake and Isi in Middle-Earth

    Riwaka Resurgence

    March 21, 2021 in New Zealand ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C

    A resurgence is created when a river temporarily goes underground, before emerging again through a cliff face (often at very cold temperatures). The Riwaka Resurgence emerges from the depths of the Takaka Hill in the Kahurangi National Park and is fed by the limestone passages and marble cracks that have formed within the cave over the years. The water is about 4°C, so a swim was off the cards.

    Afterwards we went to the sunday market in Motueka where we met Jörg and Nadine and then Jana. Jörg told us about this woman that sells german bakery goods on the market and we got ourselves a Brezel (pretzel for the brits). It was sooo good! The first one we had since leaving Germany.    Read more

  • Jake and Isi in Middle-Earth

    Takaka Beaches

    March 24, 2021 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C

    A couple of pictures from the surrounding beaches in Golden Bay: Ligar Bay, Pohara Beach, Tata Beach, the Abel Tasman Monument lookout and Wainui Bay.

  • Jake and Isi in Middle-Earth

    Grove Scenic Reserve

    April 1, 2021 in New Zealand ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C

    Lovely short walk through limestone blocks draped with roots of northern rātā to a viewpoint over the surrounding area. Jake obviously had to climb up the rocks. On our way back we saw two tiny calves 🐄Read more

  • Jake and Isi in Middle-Earth

    Takaka Climbing

    April 2, 2021 in New Zealand ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C

    There are two main climbing areas around Takaka: Paines Ford and Pohara. We mostly went to Pohara as we really enjoyed the rock and the views there. Unfortunately we didn't take a lot of pictures while climbing.
    Pictures 3 to 5 are from the Bo Peep Slab at Pohara. Jake got himself a project: Flexistentialism, Grade 22 (VIII-). During our last week in Takaka he finally sent it 👏🏼
    The last pictures was taken when Mat, our italian friend from Wellington, came to visit us. We spent a day climbing together and he cooked us amazing spaghetti for lunch 🍝    Read more

  • Jake and Isi in Middle-Earth

    Wwoofing Pupu Valley

    April 5, 2021 in New Zealand ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    We spent 2 1/2 weeks wwoofing with Sam, Jed and Connor. They're three American guys who moved over to NZ and get a house together in the Pupu Valley in Takaka. We've done loads of garden work for them (Jake built some pretty good stairs) and spent quite some time with their dogs Sheila, Udo and Aegon. We had some nice, although few, dinners together and on Thursdays we went to see Jed play his guitar and in town.Read more

  • Jake and Isi in Middle-Earth

    Hannah and Max in Golden Bay

    April 8, 2021 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C

    Our friends Hannah and Max came to Golden Bay for a holiday. We met them in Takaka and stayed together in an Airbnb at Tata Beach for two days. On Wednesday Jake and Max went for a climb while Hannah and Isi walked through town and had a good catch up over coffee and cake. Afterwards we all had a bbq together. On Thursday we went to Wharariki Beach and Farewell Spit. The third picture is actually a screensaver used by Windows. On Friday we went to see the Wainui Falls. It was awesome to see our friends again and that we were able to spend a few great days with them.Read more

  • Jake and Isi in Middle-Earth

    Anatori River

    April 11, 2021 in New Zealand ⋅ 🌧 17 °C

    After our few days with Max and Hannah we hung around Takaka for Jed's birthday (one of the guys we were wwoofing with). Some people at the party told us about this beautiful place on the top of the West Coast that we definitely need to go and see. So that's what we did on the day after the party. It was a very scenic 2 hour long drive to get the Anatori River. Once we got there we had lunch and went for a nice walk on the beach.Read more

  • Jake and Isi in Middle-Earth

    Wwoofing Motupipi

    April 15, 2021 in New Zealand ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C

    Here are some pictures of our week of wwoofing with Simon and Janine close to Takaka. Simon and Janine are originally from Cornwall (Falmouth) so we just had to make Pasties for dinner one night. It was great fun making them together. Their daughter Jess and her son Luca came over for dinner as well.
    During our week we there we've had lots of cuddles with Sim 🐈 and Molly 🐕. Sim really liked a good cuddle and always joined Jake for breakfast.
    We've had a great week with Simon and Janine and Jake really enjoyed being around some Cornish people again.    Read more

  • Jake and Isi in Middle-Earth

    Abel Tasman Northern Loop I

    April 17, 2021 in New Zealand ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C

    We did a 28 km loop track in the northern part of the Abel Tasman National Park. We started at the Wainui Bay car park. From there we walked over Gibbs Hill to Totaranui and then along the coast past Anapai Bay to Mutton Cove where we stopped for lunch and Jake went for a swim. After that we continued hiking to Separation Point. From there we went past Whariwharangi Bay and then back to the car park.
    It was a long but really beautiful hike. We had too many good pictures to choose from so there are two posts about this hike 😁    Read more

  • Jake and Isi in Middle-Earth

    Harwoods Hole

    April 18, 2021 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 12 °C

    Located in the Canaan Downs Scenic Reserve on top of Takaka Hill is Harwoods Hole. Harwoods Hole is the deepest vertical shaft in NZ (176 m). It's not possible to see all the way down the shaft as it's very rocky and steep with no barriers around the edge of the hole. Picture 4 was the closest we (Jake) managed to get. Even if we couldn't see all the way to the bottom it was a very beautiful walk. On the way back we took a detour to a really nice viewpoint.Read more

  • Jake and Isi in Middle-Earth

    Visiting Nicky

    April 19, 2021 in New Zealand ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

    We haven't seen Nicky since we've left her place when lockdown ended (which was nearly a year ago). We had a really good catch up. It was lovely so see Nicky and her dog Cora again. During lockdown Jake and Philipp started building a path into the forest. This time round the path was nearly finished and we walked all the way up to the top of her property.Read more

  • Jake and Isi in Middle-Earth

    Visiting Lynley

    April 20, 2021 in New Zealand ⋅ 🌧 13 °C

    After seeing Nicky we drove to Nelson and stayed two nights with our friend Lynley. On the first night Lynley had some friends around. She cooked an awesome Lentil Dahl which we enjoyed with lots of wine.Read more

  • Jake and Isi in Middle-Earth

    Cable Bay

    April 22, 2021 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C

    On the way from Nelson to Blenheim we stopped at Cable Bay for a quick climb. There were only 5 or 6 short climbs in the bay but it was a good bit of slabby rock.

  • Jake and Isi in Middle-Earth

    Gore Bay

    April 24, 2021 in New Zealand ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

    After spending a couple of days in Blenheim we spontaneously decided that it would be nice to climb in Christchurch again. So we hit our previous wwoofing place in Allandale up and asked them if we could come over for another week. They said yes. On Saturday after the parkrun we started the drive towards Christchurch.
    On the way we stopped at Gore Bay. After lunch we had a quick look at the cathedral cliffs and then went for a walk along the beautiful beach.    Read more

  • Jake and Isi in Middle-Earth

    Wwoofing Allandale Again

    April 27, 2021 in New Zealand ⋅ ⛅ 10 °C

    A few pictures from our second visit to Allandale. We were wwoofing with Denise and Reg again for about ten days. We helped them lots around their place, had many cuddles with Blue 🐕, Jona 🐈, Frank 🐓 and Frieda 🐔 and had amazing dinners, as usual. It's always really nice to stay with Denise and Reg.Read more

  • Jake and Isi in Middle-Earth

    Port Hills

    May 1, 2021 in New Zealand ⋅ ⛅ 12 °C

    The Port Hills are a range of hills in Canterbury. They lie between the city of Christchurch and its port at Lyttelton. They are an eroded remnant of the Lyttelton volcano, which erupted millions of years ago.
    Here are a few pictures of the Port Hills and the surrounding area of Christchurch.    Read more

  • Jake and Isi in Middle-Earth

    Monkey Bay Climbing

    May 7, 2021 in New Zealand ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C

    While being in Christchurch we decided it's time to go back to the North Island. So after leaving Reg and Denise we drove to Blenheim to climb there for the day before heading to the ferry. We found this nice crag in Monkey Bay in Rarangi which had some amazing climbing routes.Read more

  • Jake and Isi in Middle-Earth

    Back in Wellington

    May 8, 2021 in New Zealand ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C

    We're back on the North Island!
    After taking the ferry from Picton to Wellington we spent the first night in Porirua to do a parkrun in the morning. After the parkrun we met our friends Max, Frank and Liam at Pukerua Bay for a climb.
    From Saturday to Wednesday we stayed on Max and Hannahs sofa in their flat on Cuba Street. We went to the Cross to see Isi's old workmates, saw our friends Stephen and Kayla, went to Tequila Joe's for All You Can Eat Tacos (the manager wanted to be in the picture too 😂), spent a Sunday on the sofa watching Harry Potter and had an amazing cheese board.    Read more

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