Touristing around Raglan

We had a lovely day in Raglan today. After eating breakfast outside at a sidewalk cafe, we went on a harbour cruise. This was in a little tour boat, like the one in Saskatoon, but much smaller - and our "captain"/guide was a fellow who came here to surf 20 years ago and never left. He does look like a 40 year old California surfer boy. It was a great little tour - the terrain around the harbour varies greatly. I've included a couple of rock formation photos.

After grabbing a meat pie for lunch we went to the Raglan Golf club - a sheep grazed course. The sheep are great financially - they save money on mowing the steeper parts of the course, and the wool is an added source of income. The course was $20 for green fees, and $25 for the cart (by which I mean the one and only cart, usually locked in a shed, but welcomed by a flat lander who isn't used to hill climbing as part of his golf experience. The key to the cart said "Vets Cart" - which mean the usual occupants of it are Dave's dads age or older.) Anyway, I rode around too and it was fun. It was hard to get a good picture with the sheep, but I've included one. Saturday afternoon at the Raglan golf course is party time - a couple of groups let us play through. One had 7 golfers, with 5 sets of clubs, and 0 pairs of golf shoes. Another had 5 young men, one set of clubs, and a very large beer cooler cart. The party at the club house was rocking when we left (about 5 pm).

After golf we went to Ngarunui Beach, which is about 6 km out of town and is the beach with the surf break, where all the surfers go. And a lot of other people. Also one photo of the beach included. The walk up and down the hill to the beach is a good work-out.

We came home for a shower and a little break before going out for dinner.

We both love Raglan and think it's a great place to come. Laid back, yet interesting. Only a two hour drive from the Auckland airport - apparently we aren't the only ones who have thought this would be a good place to start (or end) their NZ trip. It has become a tourist niche for the locals to exploit.