On my trip to Piha beach there was a fellow on the bus named Chuck. You may remember him from the pointing and laughing picture. Well, he was a representative for MOJO Surf, which is a company that does surf trips/lessons. He mentioned a trip leaving that weekend for Raglan for 2.5 days and after twisting my arm (HA!) I was convinced to go. I was also with Jon and Leah (see there blog here) who were also on the Piha beach trip (Jon Leah back story: They quit their jobs and got married in Bahamas, then started their honeymoon in Rio and are now in NZ..not sure about the dates, but just the idea is awesome). Also on the bus was a fellow from Texas but going to school in Montreal, a group of about 9 American girls (one of these girls was also from Montreal going to McGill) on an exchange program, and a very nice German couple (Marian (sp?) 23 and Lisa 20). Drinking on the bus was a must, after we all started to drink everyone got to know each other much better, and faster. Oh, and we were two hours late picking up these three girls from New York which sucked for them, but they got over it after they started drinking (Sidenote: two of them were biologists I think, one loved turtles and the other birds, so I learned some interesting things from them).
What can I really say about Raglan...It was one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen, everywhere was by the water and lush with greenery. It had a feel like if you just walked a few miles in one direction and built a house no one would ever find you. There are multiple surfing beaching in Raglan, the most famous being Manu bay which is one of the top 10 surfing beaches in the world (there was actually a surf competition going on while we were there that was on the national circuit, so there were some famous NZ surfers there which was pretty cool. Everyone was SUPER friendly and knew everyone else). We learned on the easier bay which I can't currently remember the name of but it was quite nice.
We arrived at the lodge at night so I didn't get the full effect, but in the morning I saw that we were in the middle of a Rainforest with an amazing view of the sea. The cabins in the lodge were very clean and nice (not used to this staying in the city), and there was a cool barn you could hang out in at night.
The surfing lessons started the next morning after breakfast, we surfed for about 2-3 hours before lunch. I was kinda getting the hang of it by lunch time but still couldn't get out to the bigger waves (I say bigger but they were still REALLY small, at first I was just ridding white waves). After lunch Hemi (Maori for James...chyea!) gave me a different board so it would be easier. I started the shred the white waves like a boss, I was doing little turns and things, it was very exciting. The weather was beautiful, and just right for beginners surfing (the instructors, Hemi and Bugsy, were saying how bad the surfing really was lol). We all went out that night, one girl got THRASHED..it was pretty funny
I started off the second day with a nice stretch at a look out point down the road from the lodge. I wish I had my camera at that point, AMAZING VIEW..very relaxing and good thing I stretched so I was ready for the morning surf. I got a better board that day so I could go a bit faster. This made me feel like a hero so I tried going out to the bigger waves...and let me tell you...they are NO JOKE. I was getting thrown about like never before, I actually got pushed all the way into the middle of the beach which is where the rough waves are. Still had a great time though obviously. After a nice pizza lunch we were on our way home...Saying goodbye to paradise is tough, I definitely have to go back one day.
Highlights:
- Marian singing a Bob Dylan (not sure which) word for word in perfect English
- Marian trying to teach Jon, Nicole, and I how to speak German and laughing at us while going on German rants
- Jon sleeping like a puppet in the barn LMAO
- Lauren (one of the 9 girls) being the happiest and "smileyest(?)" person I've ever met..basically a day brightener
- Cruising on a sweet breaker all the way into the beach....
I'm currently in Taupo (very small city but surrounded by mountains)...Stay tuned for Feb 28-Mar 3.....The Janine and Lisa adventure....
Peace & Love
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