Surf Heaven

We followed the rain to Raglan, a perfectly-funky surf town about 2 hours south of Auckland where we settled into our last Airbnb for a while. The sun broke just as we arrived and unpacked our bags, hanging every item of clothing we had around the house and covering every square centimeter of the porch to try and dry it out from the dampness that took hold even INSIDE our folded clothes over the last three days. Much like Europe, driers don’t seem to be particularly popular in New Zealand, which ends up being quite difficult when every day is dominated by rain. The skies eventually cleared for good and after a 24-hour waiting period to let the ocean clean itself out, we pretty much moved onto the beach, setting up camp with surf, skim and boogie boards, sun shirts and board shorts, and spent every possible moment in the ocean, soaking up every last ounce of New Zealand we could get. We went into town every day for Real Fruit ice cream (our new obsession and perhaps the most brilliant thing to come out of this country: vanilla ice cream and frozen local fruit that is smashed/blended together in a magic little whirring machine before depositing it atop a waffle cone. It just might be the most simple and delicious dessert on the planet) and explored the surprisingly delicious restaurants around town. When the waves got too big for us to surf ourselves, we headed out to Manu Bay and Whale Bay, setting up on the rocks to watch the surfers rip along the giant faces while Holden daydreamed his future as a surfer and Hux played hide and seek. The sheer emptiness of so much of New Zealand is breathtaking, with the views around Raglan stretching for as far as the eye can see. Like Wanaka down south, we all decided that Raglan is somewhere we could very happily call home if life in Crested Butte doesn’t work out. Assuming we could figure out how to live there and not all get skin cancer considering the intensity of the sun! We read, and experienced first-hand, that you can get sunburned in 12 minutes during the kiwi summer and it doesn’t matter how much zinc you layer onto your face - after spending a few hours pushing kids into waves and chasing after their surfboards, you end up with a substantial rosy glow. A few days before leaving we decided to venture out on one last tramp, finding the biggest peak around and heading for the top of it as boys have become very keen to do. About 10 minutes into the hike the mud set in, the ground still deeply saturated from all the rain. We were slipping and sliding, filthy and screeching, moving at a snail’s pace and wondering how we would make it the 3.5 hours up to the top of the peak. Holden started to slip backward and over a hill and Will lunged to catch him, smashing his shin against a dead tree branch across the trail in the process. The bump tuned out to be more of a gash, a giant gash in fact going nearly to the bone and stretching about 3-4 inches down the length of his shin. We tried to wash away the mud with a little water and quickly realized a trip to the hospital was in order, so hobbled in back through the slippery mud to the car and into the local medical clinic in Raglan. Four monstrous stiches (and an incredibly painful flushing/washing of the mud situation) later, poor Will limped back home, feeling a little dejected from all the New Zealand rain we’ve delt with the past month, praying that the stiches would heal up quickly as we prepare to get on a plane to fly a quarter of the way around the world to Ecuador and head into the Cloud Forest and then the Galapagos for the next portion of our adventure. Needless to say, we’ve loved our New Zealand chapter and feel lucky to have carved out such a significant amount of time to spend here. While small in population and geography, there is a LOT packed into this country. While there is plenty left to explore, and a trip back is on the long-list for sure, it would have been hard to have been here for less and not leave with real regrets. That said, with another big storm appearing a few days out on the weather radar, we’re feeling lucky to be sneaking out just before it arrives!

There is one last story from Raglan that makes us laugh so hard every time we remember it that I just had to commemorate. A few days into our Raglan stay I found a masseuse, a wonderful woman named Shannon to come to the house and give our travel beleaguered bodies a little TLC. The boys have followed directly in our footsteps (for better or worse!) and discovered that there is no greater indulgence or gift than a good massage. With the camper van and Great Barrier Island behind us, and an encroaching epic travel day to South America ahead, we decided to indulge. After Will and the boys had been properly pampered, they headed into town in search of an ATM to pay our heavenly bodyworker and a real fruit ice cream because, well, every day should have one. Their hair was all oily and crazy, their faces a little groggy in that wonderful post massage bliss… Unfortunately, the town gods were not with them - the ATMs all empty due to road closures from Hamilton from last week’s floods and the banks unable to issue cash to a foreigner. To add to it, the real fruit ice cream was closed, as were the other 2 ice cream spots in town (because apparently nobody else wants ice cream at 4:30 on a Wednesday!) so they sat down on a bench outside of the grocery store to come up with a plan B. They’re sitting there looking a little dejected and haphazard when a woman in a Land Rover pulls up in front. She gets out, pauses for a moment, returns to her car and comes back with a bar of chocolate and some snacks that she gives to the boys with a cheerful, indulgent greeting before getting back into her car and driving away. Will paused, super confused for a minute, then burst into laughter realizing that she thought they were homeless, sitting in front of the store looking greasy and dirty and tired and sad because they couldn’t afford any food, and she thought that she would give the sweet boys a little treat. We knew then that we had properly settled into the vagabond beach bum life and couldn’t be more proud!