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Published: February 28th 2006
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Me, ready to go!
Right before leaving for the airport, ready to go with my pack and my poor hurt finger! Hello again!
There’s so much to write about! We’ve been having lots of adventures : ) - missing buses, learning to surf, kayaking, biking, talking to cool Kiwis, jumping off bridges into freezing cold water, being hit on my 13 year olds, starting classes, meeting people at church and now staying with them for the week.
Alright, so I’ll start in Raglan. There were 5 of us - Erin and I, Dan from the AustraLearn group, Jenn, a girl staying at the hostel, and Kate, an American we met during orientation. We left Friday evening. There were two buses, one at 3:45 and one at 5:40. Of course we wanted the 3:45 one, to have more time in Raglan. However, we had to take a bus to the bus transport center, where the Raglan bus departs from. This first bus was late, and picked us up at 3:45. Yeah. So…we got to the transport center around 4:00, just in time to miss the Raglan bus. No worries, we just hung out at the station and played cards and ate ice cream. (Lori, Will and Chris - I taught them how to play Spades! And my partner and I won!)
We caught the bus the second time. It was a beautiful drive, and it felt so good to see the mountains and greenery again. Took a little less than an hour, then we were dropped off in downtown Raglan. Found the hostel (thanks to a very nice Kiwi who knew we were lost), then walked 2 minutes to downtown and dinner. The food here has been surprisingly good. I had a toasted sub with steak and mushroom sauce - yum! After dinner we just hung out at the hostel, and played cards and Scrabble with some other people.
The next morning, Saturday, Kate, Dan and I had surfing lessons! It was cloudy and cooler, but good for surfing. First they showed us what we would be doing on land. We practiced that, then headed down to the beach to put on wetsuits and get our boards, and surf! The instructors helped us at first, then left us to do it ourselves. It was so much fun! I got up, but not regularly, which was frustrating. I did have one really good run - I caught the wave, got up quickly, and rode it all the way in. Hooray! Very
Maori women dancing
This is at the Maori show from orientation in Rotorua, in the traditional village. exhilarating.
Erin and Jenn met us at the beach - they had walked down from the hostel. That afternoon we had lunch, then went out to the closer beaches. Erin, Kate and Jenn stopped to sit and relax, and I kept walking to see the kiteboarders down farther. A business had a lot of kites set up on a little bluff, so I climbed up there and sat with them to watch. It was so cool - about 6 guys were in the water flying huge kites and doing jumps at the same time - quite impressive. I didn’t get a picture, unfortunately - sorry! Kate and Dan wandered up, then we walked back down the beach. It was still low tide, and a big section of mud was open, where hundreds of sand dollars had buried themselves. We found some dead ones to keep, but most of them broke.
That night we cooked pancakes and eggs for dinner. They were fabulous! (I made the pancakes - I’m pretty proud of them). That night we went to the local pub and hung out for a while and talked to other people from our hostel. Pubs and bars are
View from the hostel in Raglan
The view from the backporch at the hostel in Ragland. It was right before sundown - beautiful! great here because there’s almost always a Rugby game on and there’s no smoking. Heaps of fun all around. (Heaps=kiwi word for lots).
Sunday morning we went kayaking in the channels around the hostel. It was very peaceful. Tiring, but it felt good. Kate rescued Billie the frog - see picture. : )
And, once again, we missed our bus. It was supposed to leave at 12:25, so we had lunch at a Fish and Chips (fish and fries) and went to the bus stop. Waited a while. Then figured out that we had misread the timetable and the bus had left at 11:40. Again, no worries! Another bus was coming at 4:55, so that gave us more time in Raglan! Kate, Dan and I biked to the surfing beach and watched from an overlook. On the way back we stopped at a little pottery shop - Tony Sly pottery. Dan bought a bowl; unfortunately I hadn’t brought any money with me.
Caught the bus, came back to Hamilton. It was a great trip.
Now Erin and I are staying with a couple we met at a church Sunday night. Sarah and Dave. They’re great, and
Raglan courtyard
Courtyard of Raglan backpacker's extremely nice to have us. They just got married a few months ago. He’s an accountant and she works and goes to Uni. They have a little apartment right in the middle of town. We’ll stay with them til Friday, then move into our house!
That’s all for now. Classes have started, but I’ll write about those later. Enjoy the pictures!
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Brittany
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Heaps of fun!
I'm so glad you're having fun. It sounds so exciting! I'm sorry I haven't been able to contact you lately. Keep having a great time and doing silly and brave things like saving Billie the Frog!