Raglan, NZ

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Justed wrapped up 5 days of surf camp in Raglan. Stayed up at the Karioi backpacker lodge which took me back to the frat house college days. Despite the sharing of bunk beds and bathroom facilities, it was actually a lot of fun. Met a lot of great people from all over the world, all of whom were traveling for months if not years on end. Makes my 5 weeks in NZ seem like no time at all! The lodge was way up in the woods where there was no cell phone reception and barely a radio signal. But the common area did have a nice LCD TV, pool table, fooz ball, and everyone brought a good supply of booze. I even made my first apple bong. There was also an industrial sized kitchen where we cooked our meals. I was one of the only people there who had rented a car so I always had company riding with me to the grocery store and down to the beach. As for the surfing, I can get up on the baby waves, but anything taller than me and I just get pummeled. Our surf instructor is straight out of UC Santa Barbara and had decided to move to NZ after she fell in love with the place when she came here on spring break. Quite a few people I met have work visas so they can work and travel. So if Wall Street's still dead when I get back from my trip...

Sorry I only managed to snap one picture of Manu Bay on the way up from downtown Raglan to the lodge, but I forgot to pack my camera charger. Found a camera store when I returned the car at Hamilton so promise more pictures come!

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