RUF Intern Life: Raglan... SUCCESS!

Saturday morning started out at maximum stress level. It started POURING as soon as we walked out the door so we decided to take the bus to the bus station to catch the Raglan bus instead of walking. After getting all 10 people together, we waited at the bus stop only to find out (a few minutes after the time we expected it to be there had passed) that the bus didn’t actually come to that stop, but came to another one down the street a little bit. Thankfully, we caught that one and left for the bus station at 9:38. The bus to Raglan was taking off at 10:00 so I was expecting the worst but hoping for the best. Our bus made it to the bus station at 10:01 and I don’t think I’ve ever sprinted as fast as I did (while carrying a backpack and a bag). I ran into about 4 people on the way, screaming sorry, passing all the other people running with me, and waving down the Raglan bus driver. I was the first out of the group to get on the bus, and the bus driver told us that the other driver had told him to wait... how nice! And then he only charged us half the price! It turned out to be a good morning!

When we got to Raglan, we checked into our hostel, which had sort of a liberal feel…if that makes sense. This one was quite different than the one Kelsey and I stayed at in Taupo. It was very home-y and lenient with a friendly staff and a kitchen for everyone to use! We took advantage of the free bikes and 4 of us went out exploring on them right away. The hostel was located in the bay area, so we eventually found the beach via the road (I felt like I was in the Tour de France, or New Zealand, biking down the road with mountains and hills surrounding it), seeing LOTS of sheep on the way. We watched some windsurfers and kitesurfers, ate lunch on the beach, and then headed back to check out the town area. That didn’t take long at all though because the town is about 2 blocks by 2 blocks aka not very big at all. There were some cool stores with LOTS of homemade crafts (my heaven) and fun things like that. There was a hot tub at the hostel so some people hung out in there, but I figured I could do that at home, so I took off for another bike ride to pass the time before dinner! It was cool (literally) to ride with the beach on one side and the rolling hills on the other. It still amazes me how everywhere you look into the distance in this country, there are either rolling hills or mountain ranges in view… SO beautiful. Everywhere. Someone a long time ago should have let America know that undeveloped land is prettier than strip malls… too late now.

We found a little bakery where we got dinner and dessert, then headed over to the sports bar to watch a rugby game… the NZ All Blacks vs South Africa. I have caught on to some of the rules to rugby, but still had a lot of questions and wanted to fully understand. I don’t understand how people are okay with not knowing the rules to games they are watching. Thankfully there was a nice dad-aged man who came in to watch the game and was happy to answer ALL my questions! I am proud to say that I think I understand rugby now! Thank you kind dad-aged man!

On Sunday, after a night full of someone in the room snoring like crazy (good thing I brought my ipod), sleeping in my new sleeping bag (good thing I had that too… the hostel beds only had a fitted sheet, a blanket, and a comforter. GROSS.) and then the fire dept’s alarm going off so call their volunteers in (this was actually a blessing in disguise because it woke the snorer up), we walked out to the surf beach, starting at the bay area near the hostel. The beach had very fine, black sand, which I’m sure is SUPER hot in the summer, and it was gorgeous! Again, surprise surprise, rolling hills leading up to the sand and mountain ranges off in the distance in all directions. The waves were the biggest I’ve ever seen, which isn’t saying much from a girl who has grown up on South Carolina beaches, but still. We sat and watched some people surf and then headed back. AND I got all my surfing questions answered too because there were 2 girls from Hawaii with us!

Amy, Megan, Me, Kelsey, Maya

Near our hostel, there was a skate park right on the bay and it was super weird to see mostly everyone on razor scooters (not that I go to skate parks often), I just didn’t know those were used there. Interesting. Anyway, there was a little takeaway food store thing set up in the middle of a field so we got some “chips”, which came wrapped up in newspaper and were SO GOOD, and then headed back to the hostel to get the kayaks out. We put the kayaks, which were also FREE(!), into the bay behind the hostel and paddled around for about an hour. I didn’t want to risk my camera’s life with the water so I don’t have any pictures from this little exploration, but imagine a lake-ish area surrounded by sand filled with clams, mountains in the distance on one side, green rolling hills on the other, little planes flying into a field next to the shore, kids (many without shoes) playing on the playground nearby, and bright blue skies above. I felt like I was in a movie scene. Seems to be a common feeling here.

We got back to the hostel, put everything up, and went to get ice cream. Did I mention that I got some on Saturday too? This time, we found this frozen yogurt + 3 fruits concoction deal. Yes please! I got froyo with raspberries, strawberries, and blackberries mixed in. Mmm I can still taste it. Then I proceeded to the bakery, again, to get another “melting moment” to take back. YUM.

Caught the bus back to Hamilton and got here just in time for dinner. Raglan… SUCCESS!