Raglan

DAY TWO: Raglan

Our Guide took us to his mother’s in Hamilton for tea this morning and we took a really bizarre mini bush walk in the middle of the city.

We also stopped to hug a Kauri for good luck:




Raglan, which is on the West Coast is a really great town—what they call “Hippie-Surfer” so of course it’s right up my alley. We’re staying in the most perfect little community called Karioi Lodge and Surf School. They run a backpackers type operation and teach surfing but are also working on restoring the native bush. There are little scattered dorms and kitchens and a sauna throughout the property decorated with mosaics and beautiful murals with inspirational messages. They actually take on wwoofers here (where you work for your accommodation) but they’re packed right now. I’m definitely coming back here when I come back for a full year.

That’s something that really hit me today—returning here. I had been talking about it vaguely but today for some reason I finally felt like it is possible a lot sooner than I thought. Wwoofing is a really great way to see the country on a budget as your hosts usually provide both food and accommodation. And I’m a lot more confident about my ability to do good work or the organic community.

Another this I’ve realized here is how much more simple I’ve been living because of a seriously decreased us of electricity (usually none), living with less STUFF and creating less waste. When I got to this community today I said “Thank God” to myself upon seeing the compost bin—yesterday was my first day without compost in 5 weeks!

As I write this entry in my paper journal I’m lying in a hammock and petting a dog while listening to some drunken stranger playing beautiful songs of the guitar down the hill and am so content, so euphoric within this place and all its special nooks and crannies.

I know that this is what my grandparents said they were afraid of—that I would enver want to come back. Well, they were justified in their concerns.

But don’t worry. I’ll be home for Christmas ;)