Collins Drive
December 17, 2019 in New Zealand ⋅ 🌧 20 °C
Collins Drive in the Broken Hills, Puketui Valley is an old mine that was used for gold mining. We could walk all the way through Collins Drive with a headlamp which was pretty cool.
Martha Mine
December 17, 2019 in New Zealand ⋅ 🌧 19 °C
Went for a walk on the Pit Rim Walkway in Waihi around Martha Mine and the Cornish Pumphouse.
Karangahake Gorge
December 18, 2019 in New Zealand ⋅ 🌧 15 °C
Along our way we drove through this Gorge and stopped to have a look. We did part of the window walk. This place is another old gold mine.
Welcome to Hobbiton
December 18, 2019 in New Zealand ⋅ 🌧 16 °C
Quick stop into Hobbiton or as it's actually called Matamata. We'll be back for more Lord of the Rings fun! 🌋
Isi's Birthday
December 19, 2019 in New Zealand ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C
🎉🍕🎂🍷
Yaaay Isi turned 27 😁
We arrived at our wwoofing farm (18/12) 15 minutes outside Taupo and we really like it here. Our hosts, Steve and Rachel, and their doggos, Greg and MrRead more
Aratiatia Dam
December 21, 2019 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 14 °C
The Aratiatia Dam in the Waikato River is used to create hydroelectric power sustainably for the region. The dam opens it's gates four times a day and it releases 80000 litres of water per second. ItRead more
Whakaipo Bay
December 22, 2019 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C
Today we went for a swim in Lake Taupo at Whakaipo Bay after the farm work was done. The water was so clear! In the background of the first pictures you can see the snowy tip of MountRead more
Huka Falls
December 23, 2019 in New Zealand ⋅ ☁️ 23 °C
Just before the Huka Falls the Waikato River enters a shallow ravine of hard volcanic rock which results in more than 220000 litres of water per second barreling over an 11 meter high waterfall. ThisRead more
Christmas Day
December 25, 2019 in New Zealand ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C
Merry Christmas 🎄🎅🏼
We spent a lovely Christmas with Steve and Rachel at their farm, did a lot of cooking and eating and just had a great time 🥔🍗🥕🧀🍷
Maori Rock Carvings
December 27, 2019 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C
Steve and Rachel gave us their paddle canoes to explore Lake Taupo and the Maori Rock Carvings.
Mount Tauhara
December 29, 2019 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C
We climbed up Mount Tauhara and had a lovely but very windy view over Lake Taupo.
New Year's Eve
December 31, 2019 in New Zealand ⋅ 🌙 15 °C
On the afternoon of the 31st of December we rounded off the old year relaxing and swimming at Whakaipo Bay.
New Year's Eve we spent with Steve and Rachel on their farm. We had cheesy nachos andRead more
Meeting Stephen
January 1, 2020 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C
After 6 and a half years of leaving Sydney Jake finally met up with Stephen again. Was real cool catching up and chilling in the lake.
Tongariro Crossing
January 5, 2020 in New Zealand ⋅ ☁️ 8 °C
Yay we did it, we hiked the Tongariro Alpine Crossing. The track itself is 19.4 km long but we did 23 km and finished it in just over 5 and a half hours. We had a great day. A lot of the track feltRead more
Meeting Steffi
January 7, 2020 in New Zealand ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C
After 7 years Jake met Steffi again. We all, that is Jake and Isi and Steffi and Chris, had a lovely catch up and relaxed in the Hot Pools at Spa Park. See you in Köln for a burger! 🍔😊
Wwoofing
January 9, 2020 in New Zealand ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C
Time to say goodbye 😞
We loved our time on the farm. So here are some pictures of the farm life.
Steve and Rachel are lovely people and we will miss them and Greg and Mr Jones 🐶🐶 and theirRead more
Hobbiton Part 1
January 10, 2020 in New Zealand ⋅ ⛅ 13 °C
We finally got to see Hobbiton! 🧙🏼♂️
The movie set of Hobbiton from Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit was awesome. So many lovely details on the hobbit houses. We got to see Bilbo's andRead more
Hobbiton Part 2
January 10, 2020 in New Zealand ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C
Part 2 of the Hobbiton Movie Set Tour because we just took too many good pictures 😁
Redwood Forest
January 10, 2020 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C
Stroll through the Redwood Forest in Rotorua.
Kuirau Park I
January 10, 2020 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C
Just a random park in Rotorua with loads of little hot pools, bubbling mud pools and steaming lakes. There's a lot of geothermal activity going on here. Just as everyone said it does smell quite eggyRead more
Wai-O-Tapu
January 11, 2020 in New Zealand ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C
Wai-O-Tapu is one of Rototura's geothermal areas. It was formed by thousands of years of volcanic activity. We got to see Lady Knox Geyser go off, bubbling mud pools, the Artist's Palette, theRead more
Mount Maunganui
January 12, 2020 in New Zealand ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C
After a lovely ice cream (we had vanilla, boysenberry and hokey pokey) we climed up Mount Maunganui. It was well worth it, the views were stunning. After working up a sweat we went to cool off in theRead more
Papamoa Beach
January 13, 2020 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C
Morning swim and cup of hazelnut coffee on Papamoa Beach.
Maketu Pies
January 13, 2020 in New Zealand ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C
So we had this treat for lunch: Pie and Chips 😁🍟
Apparently the Maketu Pies are well known around here.




















































































































































