Raglan |
The picture in the heading above has a special significance for Cindy and me. We both have totally fallen in love with the pohutukawa -- otherwise known down here as the Kiwi Christmas Tree. Here a pohutukawa's lovely red flowers have begun to shed their petals, creating a beautiful red ground cover along the banks of the Tawatahi River. One of the first sights that greeted us when we arrived in Raglan was a long row of these stately trees lining the banks of the river. It helped to cement Raglan in our minds as one of our favorite places in New Zealand.
We found Raglan to be one of the most endearing places we've visited so far in New Zealand. A sort of cross between Venice Beach and small-town Maine, its laid-back charm and beach culture really appealed to us. On any day, you'd find residents skate-boarding down the main street of the town, with visitors and citizens kicking back at the local coffee shop, and kayakers paddling by on their way out to see the pancake rocks on the far side of Whaingaroa Harbor. It's a surfer's paradise, with four separate surf beaches, and a beach-goer's paradise, with beautiful black sand beaches going on seemingly endlessly. We were there for three months, exploring the sights in the immediate area, venturing down to the big city of Hamilton, and on one memorable occasion, heading over to Matamata for a visit to Hobbiton!
We found Raglan to be one of the most endearing places we've visited so far in New Zealand. A sort of cross between Venice Beach and small-town Maine, its laid-back charm and beach culture really appealed to us. On any day, you'd find residents skate-boarding down the main street of the town, with visitors and citizens kicking back at the local coffee shop, and kayakers paddling by on their way out to see the pancake rocks on the far side of Whaingaroa Harbor. It's a surfer's paradise, with four separate surf beaches, and a beach-goer's paradise, with beautiful black sand beaches going on seemingly endlessly. We were there for three months, exploring the sights in the immediate area, venturing down to the big city of Hamilton, and on one memorable occasion, heading over to Matamata for a visit to Hobbiton!
Hobbiton
This is actually one of the primary reasons we wanted to come to New Zealand in the first place. When you've read the Tolkien books over 50 times, as one of us has, you become a little obsessed . . . So, while in Raglan, we made the hour and a half drive east to Matamata, where we spent a couple of days while we explored The Shire.
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