raglan



Of all the places I went to in New Zealand, I spent the most time in Raglan. I read in my guide that it was a black hole for many backpackers who ended up never leaving, and that proved somewhat true for me as well. It is a beautiful little place though and wonderfully friendly. Of all the towns I've been to, I think Raglan had the nicest overall hostels of any places I've seen, each was different from each other and excellent in their fashion. I spent my first weeks at Karioi which is nestled in the jungle (lots of spiders and stick bugs), and then moved to Solscape sits atop a windswept hillside. Raglan is a surf town, and I spent most of my time hanging out with surfers and learning to surf myself. Not surprisingly, it's an incredibly lazy place, that is until the swells start coming in. When that happens the place lights up and the indolent souls that I'd come to know there would rush for the breaks with a gleam in their eyes. If I had a home in New Zealand, my tent site, which I inherited from Jay would be it, with the Tiki Lounge seperating my tent from Johnny's and either the Dutch girls or Oliver Hatch on my other side.

Photos Raglan Easter

Message Board I've started using a message board service on my site. I'm hoping some of y'all whom I met in Raglan might drop a note from time to time, find out where the Road's taken them.
	Hostels I saw four hostels in Raglan, and stayed at two of them. I looked at two places in town, one was the YHA, and the other was a converted house. Both looked beautiful, but I ended up staying at the places out of town as they were cheaper. I would definitely recomend both of them, though they were somewhat different from each other. Karioi Lodge (link for this is a bit off, to get to to the hostel info click here) Karioi had the best food of any hostel I've stayed at, in all my travels. Franno's an amazing chef. Two of the owners previously ran a restaurant in California and placed importance in good food. Karioi is set back in the jungle on a hillside. There's green everywhere and it feels wildly remote. It's not wonderful for long term as there's a tour bus that runs through it and every day the hostel is made up of different faces but for a few nights or a week or so, it's excellent. Solscape Solscape contrasts immediately from Karioi as it's set on a hillside with no trees around it. The upside of this is that the views are excellent, either out over the coast, or of the mountains. Solscape had many long term residents. The sleeping arrangements were varied from private apartments to dorm and private rooms in converted train cars to camping and campervan parking. There's a nice little community up on that hill which gives it a homey sort of feel. Solscape ended up being the place where I stayed for most of my time in Raglan, and I think it's one of the better hostels that I've stayed at.

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