Blogs from Raglan, North Island, New Zealand, Oceania - page 4

From Paihia, I headed two hours south to a small town called Ruakaka. There isn’t really much there, but a large beautiful bay, 7 or so kite spots and wind. Those items thankfully are really all I need to keep myself busy, so taking the advice of a good friend of Monty and mine from Idaho, Chris Campbell, I connected with Dave and Sue from Ruakaka Kitesports/Dekay Kiteboards. They showed me the ropes for 3 days and 2 nights and following the friendly Kiwi way, kindly gave me a place to crash. I happily got to kite for 3 days in a mix of waves and flat water as well as watch the building of a custom kiteboard from start to finish in 2-days time. The shaping, the hand-painting, the resin and all... it was fascinating. ... read more

On October 21, we made our way to the surf town of Raglan. Raglan is popular among surfers especially because the waves tend to come ashore to the left instead of straight ahead. A few of the people on the bus took a surf class. I opted out of this one as well - I wasn’t about to spend $75 on something I knew I wasn’t going to be good at. So those of us who didn’t surf went to the beach anyways to watch the surfers and play some Frisbee. Frisbee didn’t work out so well since it was very windy. And so I decided to take a walk. Along the sand there were a bunch of small purple seashells that I had never seen before and so I had collected a few to bring ... read more

We woke up to a really really really rainy day and when it rains here in Raglan, there really is NOTHING to do. Everything is based around outdoor activities. So, we played some fooseball, watched a movie, played some tile rummy. The stray bus came in that afternoon so our small group of like 8 people at the hostel went to like 48 people. A really bis bus had come in quite full of people. So, we made dinner quickly before all 46 other people wanted to make theirs. It was still raining after dinner so we played some more tile rummy before bed. Not a very exciting day but on a good note I didn't spend any money today ... read more

Meike and I slept in for a bit this morning before heading down to make some breakfast. Sent an email home to everyone to let them know i’m alive since internet has been scarce and expensive. We decided to go on the bush walk that they have behind the hostel. But first we stopped at the flying fox they have set up here. A flying fox is just a zip line.Oh ya, to do the bush walk you have to get a map and put your names down on the chalk board incase you don’t come back they know to go look for you haha. Well the hike is really in the bushes, a very narrow trail and it’s super steep! Took us 3 hours to complete but it was cool walking through the forest. Made ... read more

Im breaking boundaries, expanding my mind and growing muscles! I decided to make a small and definitely incomplete list of the new experiences I've had here during my first month down under the Down under. So here in no particular order, things I have never done before and experienced for the first time in New Zealand: Made Dulce de' leche (I think its the next easiest thing after boiling water) Made Pizza in an outdoor hand built oven using wood I cut, dough I made and some veggies I picked! Drove a Car on the left side, legally Used a hot water bottle at night (I think I would cry without it) Used a wood sander (I sucked at it) Ate white bread with butter and chocolate sprinkles (apparently this is a staple treat for kids ... read more