Raglan.

Check it out, I figured out how to do the panoramic function on my camera.
see all photos »

Back onto the bus again to go west-ish to the west coast. Funnily enough.

Here's one of those hostels again which are just so spectacularly brilliant you can't quite believe you're there. Like the one in Pukenaki (or however it's spelt - Atlas), it was set amongst the forest in nice wooden bunkhouses overlooking the sea. AND it had a zip-line slide and rope course, of which you left your dignity at the door of. When night fell, you could see glow-worms humming away under the verges of the track up to the hostel and see them zip past on the slide. Imagine looking at green stars in the night sky and you're just about there. Quite weird really, but nothing a can of Raid couldn't fix.

A fine Kodak moment.
see all photos »

Me and a girl from Pheonix thought it'd be a great idea to hire boogieboards for the afternoon and hit the surf, despite the fact she was from one of the land-locked states and I'm generally scared of the sea. I think we held our heads up quite well, and in honour of the time my sister crunched into a elderly french woman with a rubber dingy and punted her down the beach; I cut a fine swathe through the surfing school when I caught a wave I had no business being in/around/aware of at the time.