New Zealand
Raglan

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    • Day 166

      Soundsplash Festival Tag 1

      January 17, 2020 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

      Bereits im Oktober haben wir uns damals noch zu dritt ( Cara, Lene und ich) Tickets für das Soundsplash Festival in Raglan gekauft. Nicht ganz günstig so ein Ticket aber das wollten wir einfach ausprobieren!
      Später hat sich dann Hannah ebenfalls noch ein Ticket erworben, weshalb wir dann zu viert Donnerstag Abends für das kommende Wochenende einkaufen gehen und bei mir übernachten.

      Vollbepackt und top vorbereitet fahren wir Freitag Morgens um 6 Uhr los und werden erstmal von einer unglaublich tollen Morgenlandschaft mit Blick auf das umliegende Wolkenmeer belohnt. Um halb 12 kommen wir schließlich in der Surferhauptstadt Neuseelands an. Wir stellen unser Auto zu den vielen anderen und gesellen uns dann zu den vielen anderen Jugendlichen in die Warteschlange. Bestimmt eine ganze Stunde warten wir in der Sonne bis wir endlich unsere Bändchen abgeholt haben und bei der Taschenkontrolle ankommen.
      Bereits beim Anstehen haben wir beobachtet, wie die Security wirklich JEDE Tasche nach Alkohol und Drogen durchsucht hat. Auch viele Toastbrote, welche als Tarnung für die darin enthaltene Alkoholflasche dienen, werden weggeschmissen.
      Cara, welche ebenfalls den Trick mit dem Toastbrot ausprobieren wollte, bekommt ebenfalls etwas Bammel und bringt dieses schließlich doch zurück zum Auto.

      Nachdem wir erfolgreich durch die Sicherheitskontrolle gekommen sind (mein Taschenmesser musste ich aber leider auch zurück zum Auto bringen) müssen wir bestimmt weitere 20min warten um endlich einen Platz in einem der vielen Shuttlebusse zu ergattern. Dieser bringt uns dann zu dem eigentlichen Festivalgelände, wo wir mit all unserem Zeug erst einmal einen guten Zeltplatz finden und unser Lager aufschlagen, mit Meerblick!!

      Die Location ist einfach der Hammer. Hinter den vielen bunten Zelten sieht man immer das Meer glitzern, der Strand ist nur 10min zu Fuß entfernt, überall hängen Lichterketten, welche bei Nacht eine tolle Atmosphäre bewirken. Es gibt viele Möglichkeiten seine Trinkflasche aufzufüllen, viele Streetfoodwägen und andere kleinere Läden. Außerdem gibt es insgesamt 3 Bühnen, wo ab ca. 15:00 durchgängig Musik gespielt wird und für eine tolle Atmosphäre sorgt.

      Besonders Abends, wenn bekanntere Bands oder DJ's auftreten ist die Stimmung noch einmal besser. Am Freitag Abend spielen unteranderem Polo G, Sachi und Sons of Zions. Die beiden letzteren kommen übrigens aus Neuseeland.

      Totmüde wie wir sind macht uns auch der harte Boden im Zelt absolut nichts aus.
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    • Day 12

      Strandausflug nach Raglan🤍

      August 9, 2023 in New Zealand ⋅ ⛅ 9 °C

      Gestern Abend beim Zähne putzen hatte ich unfassbar niedliche Gesellschaft. Heute früh ging es nach einem kurzen Regenschauer und der Fütterung mit Sue und Tony nach Raglan an den Strand und vorher haben wir an so etwas wie einem Reservat mit Wanderweg gehalten und uns die Natur angesehen. Absolut phänomenal, aber sehr viele Treppenstufen um von oben vom Wasserfall nach unten zu kommen und genauso umgedreht.🏞️Read more

    • Day 64

      Raglan, start of North Island. NZ.

      December 2, 2019 in New Zealand ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C

      Off and on the road by 9am. Had to try and track down a camera shop as my camera got damaged by a wave. First one reccomended we discuss with Canon directly and luckily they were just down the road. Very nice man with a lord of the rings dwarf beard said he would give me a note for insurance. Whoop.
      Admin done we started driving south towards Bride Veil Falls. A lovely 50m high waterfall, surrounded by lush vegetation. Weirdly, all around this spot the whole area looks like the green grass land from The Shire.
      After that we hit the coast and came across a dirt road going north. I fancied going to Raglan to see if we could hire some surf boards. The dirt road felt like it was going to shake the camper apart. Glad to get off it without a wheel falling off. Views along the cliff were amazing. It's like Cornwall on steroids.
      Found a spot from the local council website that was marked as permitted for camping. Went to the tourist info to confirm it was ok, and she said it was absolutely not ok. She had a meeting with the council the next day, so was glad we highlighted it.
      With a little bit of light remaining we walked along the beach to a fish and chip place. 10 dollars for flounder and chips. Bargain. Never had it before, easy big bones and tasty.
      Back to a different (and confirmed as safe) free camping spot for the night.
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    • Day 61

      Crayon day

      November 29, 2019 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

      Breakfast was not on the beach, so took a short walk and flew the drone before setting off towards the crayon factory. Had a brief stop off on the coast to take some photos. The whole East coast is steep sided, rugged and covered in rainforest type vegetation.
      Crayon factory was not quite what we expected with more of a make your own Crayon rather than where they actually manufacture them. We still had fun compression moulding our own crayons into the shape of Taiwan and painting our arms. After much debate we drove all the way to the North of Taipei to a hot spring area. They had a small hot spring in our chalet, so we all had a go in that.
      Then a meal in the empty restaurant. Much like chinese from home.
      They were playing Christmas songs, which didn't feel quite right, given it is so hot.
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    • Day 9

      Raglan

      February 17, 2020 in New Zealand ⋅ ☁️ 24 °C

      Hey ihr Lieben,
      leider komme ich nicht, wie geplant, dazu jeden Abend hier was hochzuladen. Unser Programm ist ziemlich anstrengend und ich liege oft vor 22 Uhr im Bett. 😂😴😴🧓
      Wir waren zwei Tage in Raglan. Dort hatten wir ein eigenes Haus, wo wir zwei Nächte waren. Das war mal schön, den Rucksack zwei Tage in die Ecke zu stellen. An das Backpacker Leben kann ich mich noch nicht so recht gewöhnen. Komischerweise geht das fast nur uns deutschen so, wir sind vermutlich wirklich etwas anders 😋✌
      Wir haben wieder eine herrliche Bootstour mit Badestop gemacht und am Nachmittag ging es mit dem Kajak raus auf das Wasser. Am zweiten Tag habe ich den Tag auf der Terrasse mit Meerblick genossen und einfach mal nichts gemacht, außer Wäsche zu waschen. 😛 Ich habe mir eine Außenkabine mit Melanie geteilt. Eigentlich mega cool, da man zu zweit mal Ruhe hat allerdings mussten wir nachts noch auf Insektenjagd gehen - widerliches Zeug krabbelte hier rum. Klar, wie waren ja auch mitten im Wald und hatten Fenster auf, weil es extrem heiß ist. Aber: Irgendwas ist ja immer ✌
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    • Day 11

      Guten Morgen aus Raglan

      February 19, 2023 in New Zealand

      Gestern war unsere Zeit im Hostel vorbei und wir haben Auckland verlassen, um ins Küstenstädtchen Raglan zu fahren, welches uns von einer anderen Backpackerin empfohlen wurde. Ca. 2h sind wir sowohl auf dem Highway als auch Landstraße durch tropische Berglandschaften gefahren, bis wir dann auf unserem ersten Campingplatz in Raglan angekommen sind und unseren Nachmittag damit verbracht haben, unser Auto etwas einzurichten und zu putzen. Am Abend haben wir uns noch am Strand umgeschaut. Dann haben wir auch schon unsere erste Nacht im Auto verbracht. War gar nicht so ungemütlich :) Essen gibt's gerade nur kaltes, wir haben zwar einen Campingkocher aber nicht nachgeschaut, ob eine Gaskartusche dabei ist... war sie natürlich nicht und hier kommen wir gerade an keine. Naja, an so viele Sachen gedacht und trotzdem nicht an alle ;)Read more

    • Day 167

      Tag 2: dickes Auge, viel Sonne

      January 18, 2020 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

      Seit Donnerstagabend schwillt mein Auge immer weiter zu. Samstagmorgens kann ich dieses kaum noch öffnen und ich beschließe dem Erste Hilfe Team mal einen kleinen Besuch abzustatten. Es stellt sich heraus, dass ich eine Infektion im Wimpernkanal habe, weshalb das gesamte obere Augenlid so angeschwollen und vereitert ist. Mittags bekomme ich dann ein kleines Tübchen Augentropfen, welche bereits ziemlich schnell ihre Wirkung zeigen und das Auge langsam aber sicher wieder abschwellen lassen. Ich sehe zwar immer noch aus wie jemand mit nur einem Auge, dafür sehe ich aber wieder etwas mit beiden Augen und es fühlt sich auch schon viel viel besser an!
      Mein dickes Auge senkt die Stimmung übrigens nicht wirklich.
      Die Entdeckung, das uns während der Nacht Hannahs Rucksack aus dem Vorzelt geklaut wurde dagegen schon eher. Zwar waren dort keine Wertsachen drin, dafür aber ihre seit Jahren eingelaufenen Adiletten, Kosmetikzeug und Klamotten.

      Gerade als wir beim Frühstück sitzen wird der Rucksack dann aber doch tatsächlich zurückgebracht! Der Junge behauptet, er habe diesen nur zufällig gefunden und sich daran erinnert, diesen vor unserem Zelt liegen gesehen zu haben. Der Wahrheitsanteil dieser Geschichte ist uns dabei jedoch herzlich egal. Hauptsache der Rucksack ist wieder da!

      Vormittags gehen wir eine Weile an den Strand. Lene und Cara holen sich dabei einen schönen Sonnenbrand. Damit sind sie aber definitiv nicht die Einzigen! Auf dem gesamten Festivalgelände sieht man bei fast jedem zweiten einen schönen roten Teint.
      Der starke Bikiniabdruck hindert dabei nur die wenigsten daran, rückenfreie Shirts zu tragen.
      Manche Outfits und Farbkombinationen sind schon echt gewöhnungsbedürftig!

      Aber auch wir haben heute etwas viel Sonne abbekommen und spüren das Abends dann an der Wirkung des Alkohols. Trotzdem haben wir einen tollen zweiten Abend.
      Heute spielen unteranderem Dylan Frost, Mitch James, LMC und Peking Duk.
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    • Day 92

      About time

      January 3, 2023 in New Zealand ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

      Trigger alarm, lots of rambling😂🙈

      Happy New Year everyone!

      Finally the day has come, I'm gonna leave Raglan tomorrow. Not that it hasn't been nice, I've just been telling myself that I'm gonna leave in a week since the first week I got here. So much about changing my habits...

      My drawer and table are actually finished and I'm so happy about them, all the work was definitely worth it. I'm gonna send some pictures of that later.
      The only thing that's really missing now are the curtains. Planning how to install them has been focking tricky because I don't have a Van with metal on the sides, hence I can't just drill some screws in it. Or maybe I could but I don't really want to😂. Anyways I'm pretty sure I've got a good idea now, gonna try that tomorrow before I leave.
      Next long term destination: Wellington.

      The last couple of weeks have been quite emotional for me. First of all my dog got put down a few days before Christmas which hit me hard. Don't know how many people will understand that but she was like my annoying little sister that I just loved on end! It's kind of weird how most dogs don't even remind me of her because I know every little detail of how she walked, growled, played around, barked. Everything is still so present and in my mind she's still playing around at home even if I know she's dead. Death's crazy, such a bitch.

      Chrsitmas Eve I had an amazing late night swim in warm water full of sea lights and a sky full of stars and a fun call with my parents on Christmas morning. Then, just a bit later, the next drama began, as I went outside and saw this little baby sparrow on the ground. It fell out of the nest that stupidly sat in the side of a hole directly through the roof. Only a few neighbors were home so I ran around like crazy trying to find a ladder to put it back up. Put the container with paper underneath it just in case and well, that wasn't the worst idea. After spending the rest of the day with Sue's family and Boxing Day with Wade and Shannon at Wade's family (who were so fucking chill and lovely btw) I found all two of the chicks, that seemed to have been in the nest, sat in that box crying for their parents.
      Sooo I took them in for the night and started worrying like a mother hen because there is sooooo much you can do wrong. Feeding but not too much and the right thing, the right temperature, cleaning them up and so on. Fucking stressed me out. But in the end it distracted me in my mourning for my dog so it was kinda good.
      Next morning I got up at 6 a clock (imagine that!), they were still well but it got clear that I shouldn't and couldn't keep them so I put them back up in a bird house and lead the mother back to their chicks with sparrows sounds from my phone. Worked wonderfully and I actually thought that was that.

      It reminded me of my long time wish to work with birds and to learn how to care for them. That's why I applied for volunteer work in bird rehabilitation centers all over North Island and got into the one in Wellington. It's the south end of North Island and I've always wanted to go there, heard a lot about the music scene down there. Am pretty exited to go there. Don't know where im gonna live but I'll see, Craig, the guy from the bird rehabilition trust offered to help me with finding somewhere I can work for accommodation and food for I'll probably won't be paid for working at the trust.

      A day before New Years Wado's been in a heavy car crash. I think that guy has had more bad luck and good luck only concerning car crashs than other people have in their whole lifes. He isn't injured seriously, just a bit bruised with a massive shock and a whiplash, luckily only that😥.

      New Years was also different then I expected, not only did I want to party but the club was full already, also the bird drama continued. After watching the fireworks from the harbour with Shannon and Wade and going for a cozy little new years swim hehe, I went home again, and what happend? Fucking Luna (the cat) jumping in the House WITH MY FUCKING BIRDS IN HER FANGS!!! One was only choking a few more times and died, the other hopped to the sofa while I was trying to drag that beast out of the house (I know it's nature, of course I do, but it was still so unnecessary!). By the time I finally threw her out, the other bird had vanished and I looked in every corner, under every sofa in every room it could have gone and even outside for nearly two hours but it seemed pretty hopeless. And no kidding, I thought I'd look under the main couch one more time before I give up and there it was. Sitting in the furthest corner. And there I was with the bird again.
      Next morning it wouldnt feed though and so I spend an hour to make the place where the bird house stood cat proof. But OF COURSE as I went to get the bird out of my car it hopped out of the box and I think under one of the cabins that are near and that was pretty much it. Tried for a few more hours to get it out or think of anything I could do but as wade told me over and over again there's only so much I could do and so I left it to die. Fuck I have huge problems letting go. Don't know why though, I know it's nature and I know there are probably hundreds of them dying everyday but still...

      That's one of those things that has been going through my head over the last few weeks. These concepts of rational and emotional. It's so weird how you can think about things, realize something but it will probably still be to no use to you. As long as you don't 'realize' it emotionally. Like I know it doesn't make a difference but it still feels wrong to leave the bird. Or how I know my dog is dead, I know that! But it doesn't fully reach me on an emotional level, it doesn't FEEL like it. And that's how it is with a lot of things you can realize through thinking or at least its like that for me. I realize consequences, probabilities and what's likely to happen in the future. But in the end things have to really HAPPEN in order for your findings to become real on the only level that can really matter to yourself, the emotional one. Although we try to seek for the laws in and around us, try to rationalize what we see and even what we feel in order to gain some control of what is happening, the way more important part for ourself, our beeing, will always be our feelings.
      We can be in love even though we are sure it's not mutual, because the rational realization can't overpower the feelings as long as there is only a bit of hope.
      We humans KNOW that we are (at least according to scince) only some kind of bio chemical machines and still we cant fully process that because it FEELS different. In this case the 'sense of I', which I would actullay kind of label as one of the main emotions/ THE main emotion, naturally defines our feeling of ourself way more than a thought, a finding, a truth could ever be able to.
      Also we know how big our world is let alone the universe and still it doesn't feel like it, does it. Living in your own bubble your own town, maybe traveling a bit you still can't get a feeling of how big this is that surrounds us. We would maybe have to see the world from a spaceship and still wouldn't be able to comprehend it. Because knowing and feeling are two, very seperate things. All of this rambling just for this little statement. But yeah sometimes I just need to get all that stuff out of my head to get it clearer and realize myself what exactly it is I'm thinking. So yeah, if you stuck with me till here, thanks😅😂.

      Oh yeah i just remembered I also tried to save a lost kitten somewhere in a forest but it ran away and I just don't seem to have any luck in helping animals. That has a lot of history actually🙄😢.

      I'm getting a bit cold now, just got out of the water and I'm sitting in my car in the car park near the beach, and I guess all of this is enough for a few weeks anyways😂 Felt good to get that out though.

      I'm exited to finally go travel in my car, feel the freedom a bit.

      So long...
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    • Day 5

      Raglan

      December 24, 2022 in New Zealand ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

      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.
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    • Day 92

      Just my car

      January 3, 2023 in New Zealand ⋅ 🌬 22 °C

      Kia Ora,
      Just a little tour of my car. I already rearranged it a dozen times but there's still sooome space for improvement😂 but all in all I'm happy with it.
      Byebye

      P.S.: I forgot to upload this aaaaages ago lol and I really hope my english and accent have improved since then uff🙈😂Read more

    You might also know this place by the following names:

    Raglan, RAG

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