Raglan

Tonight will be our first night in the van! We are parked at our first "holiday park" and Keanan is already sound asleep!

This morning we checked out of our hotel in Auckland and started driving south to Raglan, an eclectic surf town on the west coast. While we had originally planned to just grab lunch and check out the main surf spots before heading along a scenic drive to a beach further south along the coast, our less than carefree drive here on narrow, windy, paved roads left us less than enthusiastic about the unpaved versions that would be necessary for that scenic drive. We decided to stay in Raglan instead!

After grabbing lunch, we made our way down to the water to rent kayaks. One of the highlights is a stretch of the coastline known as the limestone coast with its signature "pancake rocks" which is located across the inlet from the town. The strong current made this crossing challenging and very splashy. Our first stop after crossing was a beach known for having the blackest sand in the area. It was really neat, with sections looking almost blue. From there we continued along the coast, going between various rock formations before heading back across the inlet.

When we got back to our van we spent some time unpacking and organizing our things into it before going out to dinner in town. We followed up dinner with a drive down to a popular surf spot to watch surfers and the sunset.Read more