Raglan

Raglan

Last weekend (11/10/18), we drove down to Raglan - it's a beautiful little town known for its views and for being a surf hub on the west coast, about 2 hours southwest of Auckland.   On Saturday, we were on a mission to do some hiking - and while we got more than we bargained for at Mt. Karioi, it became a very memorable day!

Mt. Karioi
This was the road on the way to the hike - true to our experience driving on New Zealand country roads so far, it was windy, narrow, steep, and had incredible views:

 We had two options for the hike - a shorter and gentler option, or a more challenging option with better views.  After some debate we decided we were up for the challenge - and wow.  While the views were fantastic, it was a rough accent (and in some ways the decent was even harder!).

This was the very beginning of our hiking path - it was literally straight uphill and coated in mud.  

The way up took us about 3.5 hours - pictures don't really convey how incredibly steep it was.  Chains and ladders were provided at a few spots along the way to help, but for the most part it involved using arms & legs to climb roots and rocks almost vertically..  It was super tempting to just turn around, but we just kept saying we had already gone too far to quit!

This is from a little lookout about halfway up with spectacular views.  

We were following these little orange triangles marking the path, which was really not a path but a direction of where to climb up roots and rocks (growing horizontally because it was so steep!).

This was the final ladder up to the summit!

We were rewarded with truly spectacular views at the top.  We had a 360 look at the ocean & coastline off to the west (it was hard to tell where ocean stopped and sky began!), with the inland North Island off to the east. We had a picnic lunch at the top.

This was looking back at the trail as we had to begin our decent -  not looking forward to climbing down, but at least we were facing the ocean for some great views along the way.

 These were the views we were treated to on the way back down:

My sunscreen reapplication resulted in smearing mud all over my face... but got the job done!

At the bottom of the trail, there was a little lookout to the beautiful black sand beaches of the Tasman Sea:

At the bottom - thankful we made it down, and exhausted!

Bridal Veil Falls:

A short drive out of Reglan was this beautiful waterfall.   It was in a rainforest, which was situated in the middle of farmland.  This was a flat easy walk to the top of the waterfall

A staircase led down to the falls with amazing views along the way

 

Sunset over the Tasman Sea, while eating takeaway Fish & Chips - much deserved after a long, hard day!

Mt. Maunganui, Devenport, & Waiheke

We have made a few other North Island stops recently - there is beauty everywhere in this country, and we feel so fortunate to have the opportunity to explore! All of these stops are not far from Auckland - this year truly is incredible.

Mount Maunganui:

This is a hike on the west coast - the Pacific.  It is only about a 45 minute (somewhat steep) hike to the summit, but the views at the top are truly stunning.   We could have stayed all day at the top admiring the views!   The little town was a very cute beach town with lots of little cafes right on the beach, and lots of sand volleyball in high gear.

 The trail heading down:

Devonport
A recent day trip was a quick ferry ride from Auckland over to Devonport.  It was only about a 20 minute ferry ride, but the little town had several cute shops and old historic homes.  There was a hill that we climbed overlooking the Auckland area waterways (sometimes I think the primary goal in New Zealand is to climb as high as possible for the views!).  This view faces Rangitoto, an inactive volcano that apparently has some good hiking that we will check out sometime soon!

Waiheke:

Another easy trip from Auckland via ferry is Waiheke Island - we had a fabulous day here last weekend.  We hopped on a bus that explores the island - beautiful beaches, great food, and wineries everywhere.  This is a must-stop for all visitors to New Zealand!


We had lunch at a spot called the Boathouse at Onetangi Beach - great food and even better view!

From the beach, we walked up the longest staircase I've ever seen - in one go, we went from beach, to rainforest type vegetation, up to wine country!

Wine country - this is how the whole island looks, abutting the ocean.  It is very beautiful and peaceful, and I know we'll be back!

We miss everyone back home!