Surf City, New Zealand

    We just left Graham and Michelle's farm yesterday and have arrived in Raglan, which is on the west coast of the north island and is considered to be the surfing capital of New Zealand.  The town is tiny...it consists of maybe 20 shops and restaurants, all located on one street, and you can walk all the way from one end of town to the other in about three minutes.  The hostel where we are staying is incredibly nice...we got the last room there, which is really meant for just two people, but we are easily making do with an extra cot added in between the two twin beds.  The hostel is called Raglan Backpackers, and it has this lovely little courtyard right in the middle of it with a jacuzzi, a sauna, and a whole bunch of hammocks, which are constantly occupied by people who are reading and basking in the sunlight.  The hostel is right on the shore and has its own little beach, though there is an even better beach only a short walk away that extends for over a mile.  We are again meeting a ridiculous amount of Germans, now that we're back in a hostel...which is fine by me, as they're always exciting people with a lot of personality, and they similarly are really glad to finally encounter some people who aren't from Germany and can help them practice and improve their English speaking skills.  Oh, and speaking of Germans...we have just met back up with Dardan and Luise, our friends from the hostel in Auckland, and are going to the beach for some surfing with them in a little while.  Their host who they are WWOOFing with is apparently a world champion surfer, so hopefully we won't look too foolish in comparison as we try surfing for the first time.  As long as we don't get too sunburnt, though, I'll definitely be happy.
    I've finally found a good source of wi-fi, as it's free at the Raglan library, and I'm uploading all of the pictures I have taken so far right now as I write this.  I'll probably have to create a separate entry consisting of photos, but I will nevertheless upload them both to this blog and to facebook as soon as they are done transferring from my camera.  Enjoy the pictures, and I'll keep posting as regularly as I can, whenever there is something good to write about.

Cheers!
Jack