December 29, 2023: The Hostel that Runs the Town
After spending the morning at the Hobbiton Movie Set, I headed west towards the coast.
My first stop was the Hamilton Gardens in the city of Hamilton, New Zealand´s fifth largest city. The gardens are owned and managed by the city. The gardens were first developed in the 1960’s on what was a waste disposal site. The gardens have continued to grow since then and are considered one of the greatest botanical gardens on earth.
Hamilton Gardens consists of 29 distinct mini gardens. These include a Chinese garden, English garden, ancient Egyptian garden, Mughal garden, Maori garden and even a Surrealist garden. Entry was free and was an spectacular 90 minute detour.
From Hamilton, I drove 45 minutes west to the coastal town of Raglan. Before entering, I was stopped at a DUI checkpoint. The equipment was very advanced and they were able to detect my BAC by having me talk for less than two seconds. Very impressive!
Raglan is known for being New Zealand’s top surfing town and is a popular attraction for domestic tourists. It seemed that most foreign tourists I talked to did not know about it. Anyways, the town was packed, and I struggled to find a parking spot.
For a late lunch, I stopped at The Shack, the most famous restaurant in town. The bright interior looked very Australian.
Raglan’s main activity is surfing, but with limited surfing skills and questionable weather, I decided not to surf. Instead, I visited the town´s museum. There, I learned about the history of the town.
Raglan is home to one of the best left-hand breaking waves in the world. However, the wave needed certain weather conditions to appear.
In 1973, in response the Iran Oil Crisis, the government of New Zealand restricted the number of days people could drive cars. For surfers from Hamilton, that meant an extra risk to driving all the way from Hamilton to see if there were waves. In response to this, Professor Bruce Liley and his surfing students at the University of Waikato in Hamilton developed the theory and technology to predict the size of ocean waves. This technology is now used in surf forecasts all over the world.
After that, I took a drive to see the famous surfing beaches which are 15-minutes south of town. The most famous beach is called N’gaurunui but the best wave is at Manu Bay.
Back in town, I then checked into my hostel, the Raglan Hostel. The demographics here were quite different from the rest of the hostels I have stayed at in New Zealand. Most people here were in their late 20’s and were from a variety of countries such as Canada, Spain, and Ireland. In fact, there was not a single German staying here! Everybody seemed new-age – my dorm mate´s name was Journey.
The guests were all on working holiday visas, a scheme where you can stay in New Zealand for up to a year (or two) and get short term jobs to pay for your travels. Generally, people on this visa move around the country, but everybody in this hostel has been in Raglan for months and intends on staying in Raglan for months. About half the people have yet to see another town in New Zealand. Most people say they want to see more of the country, but the surfing and vibes are just too good. And I get it: the hostel has a hot tub!
To pay for these long stays, the hostel guests are working in the service industry. In fact, every restaurant and bar in Raglan has a hostel guest on their staff. So, the long-term guests all get discounts or free drinks at every place in town. The other guests were shocked to hear I came to New Zealand for just a week.
For dinner, I got turned away from two restaurants before finding luck at an old hotel/restaurant/sports bar/sportsbook/casino. I then went out with the group to get drinks.
December 30, 2023: A Taste of Auckland
My flight back to Los Angeles was at 15:30, so I had a little time to explore.
My first stop was the impressive Bridal Veil Falls 20 minutes southeast of town.
I then drove 90 minutes north to Auckland, the largest city in New Zealand and final stop on my epic road trip. I only had time for one attraction and decided to visit One Tree Hill because it was close to the airport.
The hill has had a single tree on it since at least the 1600s. During Māori times, the tree was an indigenous totara tree but in 1875 a Monterey pine tree from California was planted at the summit. In 2007, the tree was cut down by a Māori activist. More recently, nine trees were planted where the old tree once stood. Eventually, the strongest tree will remain, and the eight weaker trees will be removed.
U2 wrote a song about the hill called One Tree Hill on their 1987 album The Joshua Tree. That song then inspired the name of the TV show of the same name.
After an hour of walking around and visiting the creamery, it was time to head to the airport to fly back to Los Angeles.
Final Thoughts:
Raglan is offbeat and while the town is cure, there isn’t much to do besides surfing, the vibes are indeed good which made it worth the visit.
Besides the town and the surfing, there are a few good hiking spots nearby so slower travelers could spend a couple nights here without getting bored.
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