November 4

We arrived in Raglan early afternoon and were welcomed with sunshine, which was perfect for our much anticipated afternoon of riding the waves...or at least attempting to. The hostel we stayed at was very cool, the buildings were built on the side of a mountain, with hammocks on the balconies and everything. It was very surfer-esque (don't think that's even a word). The atmosphere is that place was very chill and easy-going which was very appealing. First on our agenda for Raglan was hoping on the surf boards and showing off our skills!
Britt and Dan have both taken surfing lessons before in Hawaii, while Valena and I were brand new at it. V took the smart way out and opted for a boogie board instead, but I was determined to surf, without paying for lessons. We got to the beach and Raglan surf shop to get all decked out in our wetsuits and grab our boards and checked out the waves. Not gonna lie, they were a bit bigger than I was hoping for my first time surfing, but I was still pumped to give it a go anyways. I didn't have a clue of what to do, how you time the waves, how you are supposed to get up on your board, but figured it'd be all through trial and error. I'd like to say that once we got our boards we ran into the ocean like a bunch of Baywatch beauties, but it was more of us struggling to carry the surfboards without dropping them in the sand.
Much to our surprise, the water wasn't near as cold as we had anticipated, giving us the extra push to jump into the water and get a start on this debacle that was awaiting us. It took V no time to quickly learn how to ride the waves, although she did have some rolls and tumbles along the way where the wave definitely won in the contest. The waves were non-stop, not allowing us much break time in between and so we were always on our toes, ready to either challenge the wave or else jump over or under it and wait for something good to come our way. My first attempt was quite pathetic, I don't even think that it was a very big wave, but it got the best of me. I remember turning towards the beach and paddling thinking, 'oh ya, i got this', but soon found out that i wasn't even near getting it and ended up getting knocked off my board and swallowing a few gulps of delicious salt water. But not to worry, I kept persevering and before I knew it I made it onto my knees on the board, felt the adrenaline rush while i was riding the way and then boom! I was down again! Between the walking and jumping against the waves and getting crushed on my futile attempts, surfing proved to be a tiring sport. But I loved it! I was determined to not give up until I got up to standing on the board at least a few times. Luckily, my wish came true. About 35 minutes into my surfing expedition I actually managed to get up onto my feet and rode the wave. I'm sure that I still looked ridiculous as I was standing, all wobbly and such, but I sure felt like a surfer, cruising to shore, riding the wave. It was so exhilarating that it gave me an extra boost that made me want to stay out there all afternoon and conquer those waves. I was able to get up a few more times, which gave me great satisfaction seeing as that i went into it not really knowing what to do or expect. I think that surfing is something that all of us girls are going to find ourselves doing as much as we can in Australia. Every time I looked over to see how Danielle and Britt were doing, whether it was paddling with a wave or coming up after getting beat by the ocean, they both had big smiles on their faces. We are all surfer girls in making, it may take a while before we can actually say we are true surfers, but it will happen...just wait and see! Valena had a great day body boarding on the waves and probably was a few pounds lighter than the rest of us girls as we all seemed to take in a lot of salt water that afternoon. I think that we have talked surfing up enough that next time she'll give it a chance and hop onto the surfing train.
The best part about arriving in Raglan that day is that we caught up to our friends from the last Stray bus and our group was back together. That night there was a scavenger hunt to win a free pass to caving in the Waitomo caves, which all of us girls unfortunately lost...but we all came so close to winning. I was introduced to my first nutella, peanut butter and banana sandwich, which was heavenly and i was immediately addicted. We all hopped onto the Flying Fox after it took us girls a few extra minutes to figure out what way the zip-line actually went and then had a big ping pong competition consisting of 'around the world' and doubles. The night ended with me challenging mountain man Mark to a singles game of ping pong and losing. After that I think that everyone was in so much shock about my loss that we all stumbled to bed in disbelief. What a way to end another day of fun in New Zealand. Next stop was our cultural experience in Maketu.

love you all,
jod