Raglan

Monday morning we made tracks back to the airport so we could pick up our campervan. It felt great to get into our ‘little rig’ and gain some freedom. After picking up our bags from the hostel and grabbing some groceries we got on the highway and headed South to Raglan.

About 3 hours out of Auckland, Raglan has been a Mecca for goofy foot surfers since Bruce Brown featured its perfect left hand pointbreak waves in “The Endless Summer”. We arrived in town late afternoon, and after grabbing a block of Sex Wax drove out to Whale Bay. Witnessing the waves wrap around the point and peel through the bay in a perfect symmetrical fashion almost made me weep with joy. I took a few photos then hopped into my wetsuit, waxed my board and made my way out over the lava rocks to jump out.

While paddling out in such a gorgeous spot I couldn’t help but have a Cheshire cat grin plastered all over my face. It wasn’t too crowded and almost immediately I stroked into wave and was flying down the face of an emerald peeler. Caught a few more inside waves and then went to the outside to wait for a set wave. A set loomed out the back and a few guys scrambled for the first wave leaving me in position for the second wave. My recollection of the wave is hazy, but I remember taking a high line and pumping like mad to make each section. After about 50 yards I finally made a cut back and then continued down the line for another 20 yards. As I kicked out of the wave I wanted to start pumping my fists like Rocky I was so freaking elated.

We’ve been here now for 4 days, and I have continued to have some of the tastiest waves ever. The other surfers out in the water have been super cool and the vibe of the place is slow and mellow. Generally when I build up a place in my mind it never comes close to fulfilling my expectations. Raglan (as much as I had built it up) has far exceeded my heady expectations. The place is magical.

The toughest part of life here is finding a place to park your rig to sleep. Raglan is quite anti-camping in parks around town, and park rangers issue violators with $40 tickets. The recommendation from most locals is to pay for a campervan park. Veronica and I (except for Wednesday night) had decided against paying $30 to stay in a campervan park. We’d rather save the money, but it does make it a little nerve racking sleeping at night wondering if your going to get a knock on the window to tell you to move on. But Veronica has a real hawk eye for scoping out places that are out of the way, and then yesterday we met a guy named Lee in Raglan HQ (the coffee shop we go to for our java and internet needs) who had just moved from Manly 2 months ago. Turns out Lee used to work in the Aloha Surf shop and knew all of our friends, small little world. Lee clued us in that we could actually sleep in the RSL’s parking lot for free and not get hassled. Our last night was spent with other dirt bags sleeping in a free and hassle free parking lot. Score!

Today we are making our way down further South to Wellington. We will break up the 8 hour trip by stopping at Mount Taranaki for the night before heading into Wellington Saturday morning. From there we plan on taking a ferry across to the South Island on Sunday, where it is gonna be cold. So far we have had some nice weather, but it can definitely be a tad nippy in the early morning and at dusk.

I am sad to be leaving Raglan, but I am stoked to know that we will be coming back to spend my birthday in this epic piece of coastline.