Gooooood days

The other day we arrived in Raglan, the ultimate NZ surfer town, went to the campsite which is situated on a sandy spit and is reached by footbridge from the town. After a ker-razy night on the town (the Yot Club bar, along with about 4 other people), which did at least result in our finding a rugby ball floating in the harbour, we dragged our sorry arses out of bed the next day and wondered over to the Tongue & Groove cafe for brunch. Isaac had scrambled eggs on toast, I had the most fabulous Caesar salad I've ever had (with little crispy bacon bits and a poached egg on top). Isaac bought me a cushion - a squishy one with an Orla Kiely type design which I love - and we wondered down to the shore to meet with our sea kayaking guide, Steve.

Steve is awesome - he has one of those looks that says he knows something you don't know...and it's goooooood - and we took off in a tandem sea kayak to explore the shoreline and the famous pancake rocks. They're ancient sea bed, made of limestone,
which has weathered and had the softer layers eroded, giving them an amazing, almost unreal effect. We happily pottered in and out of the caves and narrow paths in our kayak - Steve was impressed we did it without arguing once, which apparently most couples do in a tandem - and got ourselves wedged a couple of times. Then we stopped on a beach for freshly-made stove top lattes, danishes, biscuits and fresh pineapple. Yum. I went for a wander in the water and watched as a stingray floated gracefully past me. Great trip and Steve couldn't have been more hospitable or responsive to all our various needs, gawd bless 'im.

Next we popped into the grocery shop in town and found the most amazing bargain - a 10ft telescopic fishing rod AND reel for only $56 - most of the ones we'd looked at started at around $115 - so Isaac was made up. We left town happy and headed south towards our next stop of Kawhia, which took us past the Bridal Veil Falls, so that warranted a stop. Amazing, well worth the effort. Further up the road Isaac achieved a lifelong dream when we rounded a corner to find our way blocked with sheep. Around
600 of them, being herded by 2 dogs and a friendly sort of chap on a quad bike, who was obviously a bit lonely and wanted to chat. Onwards to Kawhia where our hosts at the new campsite, Snow & Bronwyn, were hilarious. He called me honey and they were at each other's throats constantly. Ha ha. The bathroom block at the site was brand new and we were practically the only ones there again, so that was nice. As soon as we arrived, we headed down to Ocean Beach, known for it's thermal springs so around 2 hours either side of low tide you can dig yourself a small pool on the beach and sit in the boiling hot water. We were dubious. When we arrived it was rather windy and cold, and the sea water was damn chilly too - what the hell? We got chatting to an English couple nearby who gave us some tips about how to find the hot stuff and soon we had ourselves a lovely hot pool. Fabulous. We even stopped to chew the fat with some great local Maori boys on our way back, but I'm sure it was Isaac's presence, not mine, that made them so friendly towards us - they recognised a fellow gansta, clearly.

It was nippy and getting late when we were heading back to the campsite so we stopped in town at the only bar/restaurant we could see to see if there was any food available. A small dog, sitting in the middle of the road, took a liking to us and followed us there. They'd closed the kitchen but the two lovely ladies there opened it up again to cook us a bowl of huge green-lipped mussels and delicious chips. We went to bed feeling we'd had a very very good day, all in all.

However, we've saved the best till last. We drove from Kawhia to Otorahanga the next day on the way towards Waitomo Caves, where we are currently (and where we will be blackwater rafting in a few hours - can't wait!) Now, one thing our van lacks is a power cable - when most new flashy campervans pull up to a campsite, they can plug their van into a special box, with a special plug, which gives them mains power. We had bought a heavy duty extension cord and 4 way splitter for this but didn't realised it needed a special, round pinned plug. We've looked and asked everywhere to see if we could buy one but it seems it's a no go, as it has to be specially fitted by experts. So in Otorahanga we were asking around, as usual, without much
hope. A tractor repair shop (it was that kind of town) said if we walked through their workshop and turned right we could find an electrical shop which might be able to help us. We found it and asked and not only did they not look at us blankly like everyone else, they said they had one! Cut a long story short, they took our heavy duty extension cord and replaced the male plug with the kind we need - fully certified and everything. They were so lovely and one of the women in the office even wanted to buy the van from us when we'd finished our trip! Isaac & I can't stop looking at our lovely lovely cable and we feel like proud new parents.

Latest pics here.