Get ready folks, this is two journeys packed into one blog!
WEST COAST
Along the west coast of New Zealand’s north island lies Raglan, a town filled with cute cafes, roadside restaurants, first-day and black sand beaches. Being about an hour bus ride away from Hamilton, this location seemed like a great place to hold a day trip, and what a day we had. This was my first day-trip since arriving in New Zealand, so I honestly did not know what to expect. One of my suitcases was still stuck at the airport at that point, so it was just me, my sneakers, my flower earrings, and a flimsy tote bag against the world. I hadn’t anticipated this journey to be a big hiking trip or anything like that, so I was sure that my poor-grip shoes would be fine.
What a surprise I was in for.
The drive on the bus to Raglan was quite gorgeous, with rolling green hills as far as the eye could see, and blue skies that lasted longer than the classic ten-minutes-before-fading-to-gray. As soon as we arrived, we were met with a little string of stores all tucked next to each other beside the ocean. There was a really cute store that was literally called “La La Land”, but instead of finding Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling, I found chocolate confectionaries (fair enough trade, I’d say). That wasn’t the beachy area we were looking for though, so we ventured further into Raglan. I can’t really tell you if we knew where exactly we were going, but we definitely took the scenic route! As we walked through a little public park, some suburbs, and right next to a highway, we eventually found ourselves at a reserve that had signs beach access. Cool! The beach wasn’t too far and we’d have a great time.
We went through the forest reserve and up some hills, and then reached an off-the-path way to the beach. It was through a beautiful emerald green field of grass where you could hear the sounds of the waves. I stepped forward ready for adventure, for some amazing connection with nature-
-and my foot squished.
Ah yes, mud. I don’t know why I was too surprised, with an area as rainy as New Zealand, obviously there would be mud. However, as I mentioned before, my shoes had no grip and I was throughly unprepared. All good though, the slippery way down to the beach was ultimately worth it (with little to no awkward mud stains)! I had never been on a black sand beach before, and the sands had little streaks of blue in them as well. The ocean water seemed too cold for me to jump in, but a few of my braver friends did. I cheered them on from the comfort of a rock. They went for a swim, we watched some surfers, and then decided it was time for food. On our walk back to the center of the city, we stopped at a restaurant that had the biggest fried chicken sandwich I’ve ever had in my life. That sandwich had some height on it, truly.
At that point, the other half of our friends had joined us, so we spent the rest of the day exploring the cute stores around Raglan before the bus took us back home. Overall, I scored a lovely set of earrings, memories with new friends, and really muddy jeans!
EAST COAST
Matariki is a star cluster that rises early in the morning in New Zealand during mid-winter. It signifies a time for everyone to gather and reflect on their past, present, and future, and occurred on July 14 of this year. It is a public holiday, and therefore, we had that Friday off of classes. So, we decided to gather and book a hostel to celebrate the long weekend. We traveled eastward to another coastal city known as Tauranga.
Upon arriving in Tauranga, we were met with a downtown alley full of eateries and our hostel with its oceanfront view. It was impossibly beautiful. Our first day was spent getting aquatinted to the area, walking along this big train track bridge, and making dinner for each other. Quite the cozy team-building endeavor, I must say.
The second day was much more action-packed. Tauranga is home to Mount Maunganui, or Mauao, which is an extinct volcano that many people hike up to see its summit. That hike was on our itinerary for the day, and while I was excited, the closer we got to the mountain… I admittedly got a bit nervous. At this point, my other luggage had arrived with my hiking boots, so you’re probably assuming that I put my hiking boots on.
Well, dear reader, I did not. For no real reason other than forgetfulness. It was me and my poor-grip shoes against the world, once again.
Regardless, I was not going to let my poor planning get me down, and when we reached the beach I was astounded. Maybe it was because we went to Raglan on a gray day, but this beach water looked so much more blue, like a perfect shade of Glacier Freeze Gatorade. Lots of people in our group rushed into the ocean, but I just dipped my feet in because cold water and I do not mix. Still, it was a lovely 2 seconds in the water for me!
After getting a quick bite of famous New Zealand fish and chips, it was time to get to the summit of Mount Maunganui. I wish I could tell you that it was a breezy walk upwards and I had no struggles and looked absolutely majestic. That would be lying to the highest degree. I walked up the first flights of stairs with such enthusiasm that I was winded for the rest of the walk. It was uphill madness with stairs on stairs, and my legs were certainly ready to give up at some points. I have to thank my roommate for keeping at my pace with me because she started playing the Mamma Mia! soundtrack for a morale boost. Nothing like Amanda Seyfried singing to put some pep in your step while you walk up a dormant volcano.
I’ll save you the in-depth details of my red face and sweaty smile, but we eventually made it to the summit in time for sunset, and it was so worth all the heaving. I could not believe that a place like this could exist, and I truly felt every worry I’d ever felt evaporate from my soul as I stared at the views of the summit. So poetic, I know.
After taking so many pictures and soaking in the views, we traveled back down and ended our night with some pho from a local Vietnamese restaurant. Disregarding the pain in my feet, the noodles were a perfect ending to that trip for me, and I had the best sleep of my life in that tiny hostel bed.
I left out many other tiny details from these two trips, and I am sure that I'll be visiting them again when it warms up a bit here! Two things are for certain though; I can't get enough of New Zealand beaches, and I'll never forget my hiking boots again.
With love and Hokey pokey ice cream,
Raeva :)
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