Raglan - surf central!

My journey to one of NZ's centres of surfing (and the world's - Raglan apparently has 'one of the best left-handed breaks in the world' - I had very little clue what this was before I got to Raglan, but many people I'd passed along my travels around S. and N. Island had told me I'd have a great time there, so that seemed like reason enough to check it out) saw me back on the bus - three buses in fact: one comfy but crowded Naked bus, and two bone-juddering local buses which wound through the hills to the West Coast.

Raglan is a nice little town, with just enough going on to entertain people when they can't surf. The town hostel, Raglan Lakefront Backpackers, which backs onto the river estuary, is pretty legendary with backpackers in NZ too; it's popular and fully-booked in summer; they rent surfboards, wet-suits and boogie-boarding gear, and there's a sauna and hot-tub, as well as a surf car which you can catch a lift in (for the horrendous price of $2) down to the main learners surf beach, Ngarunui. There are two other surf beaches in Ralgan, including the one with that fabled 'left-hand break', but these have rocks and strong currents, so they're too dangerous for foolish learners like myself who are more likely to knock themselves out with their own surfboard than catch a great break.

My surf lesson with Solscape Surf school turns out to be one-on-one - I'm lucky that no one else has booked in today. In retrospect this may be because a storm surge was coming through the area which made the surf much more pounding, rough and 'messy' than usual, but still, it meant I got to make the most of two hours in water. (First, though, I have to get the hang of carrying the board...)
We start with some practice of standing up technique on the beach, then move into the water, where my instructor Andrew cites out the best waves for me to catch. It turns out that what seemed fairly simple on land is actually a lot tougher when I'm trying to stand up on moving water; who'd have thought it? I faceplant the water numerous times, also managing, at one memorable point, to get thrown around underwater whilst sampling a mid-morning snack of sand. Andrew is nice enough not to laugh when I emerge from the water covered head to toe in the stuff.
It is great fun though, definitely something I want to try again - the moments when I manage to stand-up are brilliant, even though they only last seconds at most! By the time the two-hour session is over I'm shattered but buzzing.

The day before I leave Raglan myself and another girl take the surf car down to the beach again. We spend a comedy hour or so in the water, desperately attempting to catch waves as the rougher-than-ever sea churns around us. The moments which clinch the idea that I should quit for the day include the time I wipe out and emerge, coughing and spluttering, down the beach a long distance away from where I fell, due to the strong side-current, and the memorable episode when I manage to fall and hit myself in the face with the board while paddling out to catch a wave. Although our enthusiasm isn't dampened, it's clear the gnarly state of the surf and our inexperience are not a good combination.

Before I leave Raglan I arrange farm-stay with a lady out in Parua Bay, near Whangerei in Northland, which is where I'm headed after another one-night stopover in Auckland. The last night in Raglan is low-key but fun, with juggling tricks, an entertaining collision of schoolteachers from different hemispheres, and some very strange anecdotes from a Canadian airline steward.

written by

LizIsHere on April 17, 2010 from Raglan, New Zealand

from the travel blog: New Zealand & Australia 2010

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