The continuation! This spring we visited our old friend living in a countryside and explored and walked the places nearby (there are a few very promising one day hiking tracks and other landmarks). I have decided do not split pictures I made into separate posts this time. Instead, I’ll tell about everything, keeping the favorite ones. Also, I’ll show you one small but very nice New Zealand town, which is very popular amongst surfers. Labour day, three days of weekend and a deserved getaway from the big city we needed so much!
For the last 6 months since the moving, our friend bought a lawn mover due to the fact that a living one became lazy. And also bought a tractor, a trailer and a boat! Which we try to use in Raglan harbour as soon as summer begins. To be honest, I don’t even know what to expect to see when we visit our friend next time ) Hwo knows, maybe a private plane Cesna 172? 😮
Part third. “Raglan”
On the way to Raglan we visited Bridal Veil Falls. From a carpark with a toilets nearby there is 10 minutes walk to the waterfall through the forest.
The waterfall height is 55 meters. Water flows down from the basalt cliff, which was formed 2 million years ago as a result of volcanic activity.
You can observe waterfall from four platforms, starting with the topmost and ending with the lowest one, where you have to go downstairs.
After visiting waterfall we went to a small beach nearby Raglan harbour. It was quite windy on the beach, however, I haven’t spotted any kite surfers that time. The only people we met were dog owners and a couple who had agreed to make this picture.
Then we drove to the town center. And visited famous Raglan wharf, with boat ramp,
and a fishing ships staying nearby after having a fishing trip in an open sea. And of course, you can see some fisherman.
Nearby the warf, there is a very nice fish & chip cafe, called Raglan Fish, which I was told before, makes one of the best fish & chips in New Zealand
I have to say both chips and fish were great. Everyone liked it. Including our advocate of a healthy lifestyle and a balanced diet.
After the lunch, we visited a small shop, Soul shoes, the last place in New Zealand, where you can get local made shoes, belts, wallets, backpackers and other cool stuff made of natural leather:
Highly recomend to support them and buy something for you and your relatives. We have supported!
Check out their website
Also, I met a girl in the shop who came in to ask for a towing hook for her car. It turned out she is from Switzerland, and currently doing her PHD with her Estonian girlfriend in Hamilton Univercity.
Girls went to Raglan for a surf weekend and drove their car into a ditch while parking. So my friend gave them a help.
Then we drove to Wainui Reserve Bush Park, where we had a pleasant walk under the trees shadow. Actually, it was cloudy that day. Anyway! The park was founded by a group of enthusiasts in 1993 on the site of the old farm. And is still supported by volunteers. In total, they planted about 15,000 trees.
You can met a standalone endemic trees or even a group of trees in the park. As supposed for a botanic garden, some of the trees has a sign with tree name and description. If you didn’t know, a juvenile kauri tree leaves look like this дерева каури:
A very nice place. Recommend to visit
On the picture below you can see a local landmark – mount Karioi, which you can spot from almost every part of the town. Added a spot of interest in my Google maps to go there for a hike this summer. Do you want me to share GPS-coordinates in this blog or, you’d search by yourself?
After walking in the park we drove back to the town center, having a stop in a small supermarket to buy some meat for a BBQ. By the way, for a small town, which Raglan is, it has high prices. And lack of variety, to be honest.
While shopping, we met same girls we towed out of the ditch. They said, they would like to give us a visit and buy a bottle of wine for the help.
So, while the steak meat is seasoning and girls and wine are on the way, I’ll show you the neibourhood. On the left there are mother ship and her son:
An alpaka family lives right accross the road:
Then we met an old Welsh Corgi. He came closer to us, lied on one side and allowed to pet him. As you may already guessed, we haven’t met any single person yet. Very nice neibourhood!
Village scholl. Most of New Zealand schools are just a set of small wooden “barracs” connected to each other. To me, it was very nice to visit its website and read every teacher’s story to find out how they ended up to move in a village.
That’s it for today, folks. Tomorrow we are going to make a small hike up on a hil. Stay tuned!
Ivan Grigoryev's Blog
Living in New Zealand. Blogging about the country, beautiful places, everyday life.
Do a skydive - halfway completed; get 1400 - still working on; reach 300kph - completed by 96.6%