NZ, Part 3 - Hamilton, Raglan

Tuesday Dec 15 - Ate donuts, got the rental car (Corolla hatchback), checked out, and hit the left side of the road. It took some getting used to and minor mishaps, Ephraim pulled out of the hotel into oncoming traffic, and a few times flipped on the wipers to signal our turns. But with good navigation and prayer we made it south to Hamilton.

I wished we'd had a GPS to get us around. There were heaps of roundabouts, which are great if you know where you're going, but if you don't you never have time to sit and think. They're just too efficient.

In true road trip fashion, we listened to an audiobook: The Hobbit. Dramatized, and edited, but it still took 4 CDs. Every time things in the story got exciting, Isaac piped up from the back, "Mama, could you stop it please? What's happening?" So we'd fill him in. It was easy to picture the story setting in such suitable surroundings.

We visited the Hamilton NZ temple. Forgive me for saying that the sweet people were hobbit-like. Very friendly, chatty, polite, cordial. Just charming.

The visitors center had a darling little display. See the sheep?


They said the houses were replicas of actual homes in the area.

While I was in the temple the kids discovered yet another awesome park with a mega-long slide.


Soon we drove an hour west to Raglan. The drive reminded us of the road from Corvallis to Newport in Oregon--hills, forests, farms, curves.


We stayed at Ragland Holiday Park in a 2-room unit with a queen and a bunk bed, kitchen and couch, but shared bathroom. It was great.

Ephraim rented a wetsuit and board on a half-day rental, and got in two sessions, one at night and one the next morning.


Ephraim here. For those who care, this picture was taken of Manu Bay at 6:30pm and by the time I got in the water at 8 the tide and swell changed so the wave was only breaking to the boat ramp on the left. Still about 10 times longer than any wave here in AS. It was fun to do more than two turns on a wave and cutback. It wasn't classic Raglan like in Endless Summer, but it was good enough for me. I checked the other breaks and they weren't as good as this one so I surfed it twice. People were really friendly in the water and cheering for each other and even for me. That was really nice. Also, almost half the lineup was made up of women. That was different. There's only one surfer girl here in AS.