Raglan, New Zealand North Island – March 31st – April 1st, 2017

On a map, the Coromandel peninsula and Raglan, the surf capital of NZ, are not that far apart. Even according to GoogleMaps the drive should take no longer than 3-hours; however, Google assumes you are driving the speed limit and we soon discovered that driving the speed limit in NZ would be a death sentence. The posted speed limit throughout most 2-lane roads is 100 km/hr (62 mph). You either have to be or think you are a rally car race driver to pull off 100 km/hr on the windy narrow mountain roads. We figure NZ takes the same approach as the autobahn in Germany: drive as fast as you want, it’s your own fault if you crash, just try not to involve anyone else in your stupidity. We are under no illusion that Freddy Kiwi is a rally car, so it took us about 3-hours longer (double Google’s estimated time) to get to Raglan than we originally planned and we arrived a bit late to rent equipment and surf in the afternoon. Instead, we drove out to Bridal Veil waterfall. Apart from the fact that the water flowing over the falls is the color of watery diarrhea (understandingly so, because it has been contaminated by the excrement of the surrounding sheep and cows), the massive drop surrounded by lush green jungle make the falls udderly (cow reference) gorgeous. 

The drive from Coromandel Peninsula to Raglan.

Bridal falls waterfall. I even wore the waterfall as a bridal veil in the top-left photo!

The next morning, we got up and checked the surf forecast before fearfully making our way to the board rental place. Just our luck, a storm swell had moved in overnight and the waves were huge! Around town, the excited chatter from the local surfers about the size of the waves made us feel extra confident as we left the shop with our beginner foam surf boards and cold water wetsuits. Arriving at the surf beach, our first observation was that yes, indeed, the waves were “gnarly” and “far out man” (to be fair, nobody actually said either of those stereotypical surfer phrases). We stayed in the white water with the rest of our fellow beginners and apart from a strong current that kept forcing us to repeatedly walk the length of the beach, we had an incredible time! By the end of the day (more accurately the middle of the actual day, surfing is exhausting), we were able to catch most of the waves and stand up successfully about half the time! So much fun!

Surfing in Raglan.