Day 166 & 167 Raglan, Port Waikato

The last few days weather wise have been great, sunny and hot.  So it was a little surprising that we woke up to rain.  We were in need of a lazy day so we weren’t too disappointed.  It gave us a reason to laze around.   It did clear up enough so that I could walk downtown and have a look around.

Raglan has a population of just under 3000 residents and was initially supported by flax and timber exports.  These were followed by farming and dairy which are still the mainstays of the area.  However, the arts and tourism are also significant to the current economy. 

Raglan is also known for its surf.  Eight kilometers from Raglan is a series of surf breaks including Indicators, Whale Bay, Manu Bay and Vortex Bay.   A large portion of the tourists are here to surf.  Manu Bay was featured in the 1966 movie The Endless Summer.  We plan to hit a couple of the beaches tomorrow.  I don’t think we will be doing much surfing.


Bridge to Town




On the way to town

 

Downtown Raglan



Raglan



Gathering at Library & Free Wifi Location



Another view of the bridge

The Estuary



Later in the afternoon Kathy was finally able to get a good picture of a Myna Bird.  They are pretty common but we have not been able to capture one on film.  Okay a digital impression.



Myna Bird





OK, who took my towel



We took a walk on the beach that was right next to our campsite just in time to catch a pretty nice sunset. 

 

All in all, it was a pretty good day.

The next day (day 167) we planned to leave Raglan but not before we headed a little south and checked out some of the surfing beaches.  The first one we stopped at is not considered one of the better surfing beaches but a lot of people do surf there.  It more of a swimming and holidaying beach. 

We had a look, took a few pictures and then headed to Manu Beach.  This is more of a surfer’s beach and there were quite a few surfers present.  Which was surprising as it is the end of the summer and the waves weren’t all that great today.  We still enjoyed sitting up top and getting a bird’s eye view of the activities.



Manu Beach





Surfers at Manu Beach



There were a few other sights worth photographing on our morning drive.

We left the surfers and headed for the highway that would take us to Port Waikato. That meant we had to go back into Raglan so we stopped for a Mochachino before leaving town.  It also gave us a chance to see Raglan with sunlight as it was pretty overcast the day before.  It hadn’t changed.

We got on our way to Port Waikato and our desire was to get there via Hwy 22 which was a secondary highway.  We thought it might give us a more scenic look at this area.  However, we missed the turn and before we knew it we were on the main highway that took us north towards Auckland.  In hindsight it was just as well as it started raining and rained the entire way.  The back roads were a challenge at the best of times let alone when it was raining.  The new route has us following the Waikato River for a good portion of the trip.



Waikato River




Waikato River



We really didn’t take any more pictures on our way to Port Waikato.  I don’t know where the day went but it was quite late when we got to the holiday park and checked in.  Some days just seem to evaporate.  We are hoping for a nice sunny day tomorrow.