Raglan is a small town on the west coast of the north island, about 40 km west of Hamilton (which is about a two hour drive southwest of Auckland). This place has become more and more popular over the years as it’s one of the best surfing destinations in the country. No, I don’t surf and have no intentions on trying (not a water person), but I had heard that it was a really nice place to visit and the backpackers place I stayed at had great reviews, so off I went. Raglan did not disappoint. It is beautiful – on the coast with little beaches and a small main street with a bunch of little cafes and other little conveniences. So far it has been my favourite stop. The backpackers lived up to its reputation: small, super-friendly, quiet – but not lacking in activity – clean, comfortable, and fun! The crowd was a bit more mature than the usual hostel crowd (which generally tends to be predominantly 18-23 year olds). This was nice for me, as I’m not always the oldest person at these places, but I am usually one of few and while I get along fine with everyone, when you are at a vastly different point in your life you don’t have much to relate to. So I made some new friends: One Canuck, a Brit, a German, and two French guys. Everyone was so nice and fun and easy to get along with. For the first time in a couple of weeks I really got to hang out with people instead of just touring around and then making small talk about travels over a brief dinner in the hostel kitchen each night. Jenn, Elly, and I headed out one day to Bridal Veil Falls just down the road from town. It’s a short hike down to the falls and it’s beautiful! The rest of the time we just hung out, the guys went surfing every day and each night we ended up playing Uno (someone found the deck of cards in the lounge). One night we went out to the local pub for live music by a local band. It was such fun! So that’s my Raglan story. Now I’ll fill you in on getting there…Being slightly remote, Raglan doesn’t have bus service from the InterCity Bus line. You have to take the bus to Hamilton, and then a shuttle runs to Raglan from there about 4 times per day. I had to get back to Auckland on Saturday to catch my flight to Wellington late in the day. The day I left for the coast I found out that the shuttle ran on a limited schedule between Raglan and Hamilton on the weekend and there would be no way I’d make my bus – and consequently my flight on Saturday. I took the bus down to Hamilton anyway, not wanting to just pass time in Auckland until Saturday, and during the ride it dawned on me that I should have rented a car! I don’t know why I hadn’t thought of it before. So when I arrived in Hamilton I asked the lady at the i-Site (the Kiwi info centre) if it would be possible to rent a car in Raglan. She said no. So I asked where I could rent one there in Hamilton – well there was a place right beside the bus station. Off I went to Raglan in my little Mazda Familia (the same at the Protégé at home, just a different name) – driving on the ‘wrong’ side of the road. This is my first time attempting left-hand-side-of-the-road driving and it was an experience, I have to say. My first left-hand turn after leaving the rental place I almost overshot the turn, heading for the oncoming lanes instead. Luckily I realized all those cars were in ‘my lane’ and made the turn before I passed the correct lanes to turn into. That was my closest call. The other funny thing is that the windshield (or windscreen as they call it here) wiper control arm and the turn signal arm are on opposite sides of the steering column, so each time I went to signal I turned the wipers on! DOH! So I got to spend more time in Raglan as a result of renting and car, saved some of my bus points for another trip, and drove straight back to the airport which was much better than my original plan anyway. Things work out well if you are flexible and don’t force it. That’s been my experience in recent years, and in this case it was reinforced. So I had a great visit in Raglan. Now I’m in Wellington. I’ll write about that next post.
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