Raglan Backpackers and Water Front Lodge

... br>
today we arrived in Raglan, the surfer's paradise of NZ. We live in a cute Hostel with awesome view over the sea. Unfortuantely it's a little far away from town, thats why we will move down to town tomorrow. We are planning to stay here for a while.

... to me (good book if you have ever slaved in restaurants) We ate at a few good places including Vinnies which was run by a guy from New York. It was a classic surf town restaurant complete with a projector playing surf videos on the wall. The food was excellent and it had free internet. The vibe of the place was like a cozy relaxed California surf town that managed ...

... place to crash for the night. We must have been traveling in non-touristy area, since there were no hotels. We ended up finally finding a Bed and Breakfast before dark. This was our first try at a B&B in NZ. We have been sticking to modern hotels since we have needed internet connectivity most days. The owners of the B&B were wonderful, they had ...

... was cancelled. The place we stayed at was really cool - it was set in lovely woodland, had a flying fox, a sauna, a rope course, games room and a big TV!! That afternoon we decided to have a productive afternoon and spent it watching Gladiator. That night we had another group meal and passed the night away playing pool.

... and retreated to our tent. We hit the beach the next day and spent a few hours surfing. The waves were perfect and we managed to catch a few before having a picnic on cliffs with absolutely stunning views. If anyone travels around the North Island, do not miss Raglan. It is special. A guy told me it is what Byron Bay was like 20 years ago before tourism changed the face of it. Not to be missed.

... see Bridal Falls then after a scenic drive we ended up in a town called Kawhia where we found a nice campsite and decided to treat ourselves to a fish and chip supper and a pint of bitter. We were looking to go to another Hot Water Beach here but the low tide was at 3am so we missed out.

... to see the beach, even if it was raining. And was it ever worth the trip. The hundreds of massive rolling green overlapping hills made for such a spectacular driving range. Arriving in Raglan, I got a few pics of people parasailing off in the distance. I carried on to Wainui Beach. Even though it was raining, it was so vast and beautiful. I walked halfway down to the beach, spending some time watching two black pins (a.k.a. humans in ...