Raglan

Last weekend I went to Raglan with a few other students. Raglan is on the top five places to visit in New Zealand so I was really excited to see this famously known surfing beach.

A crazy thing about New Zealand is that the color of sand on their beaches is different depending on what side of the island you are on. Last post about Mount Mauganui you can see that there was white sand on the beach because it's on the east side of NZ. Raglan is on the west side so there is black sand. Here's a picture of it. It more looks like wet sand instead of "black" sand but still there is a difference.

We walked along the beach and then explored.

Here is the good ol' Husker 'N'. It's funny how much more my Husker pride has developed since I've been away. I think because it reminds me of home. It's weird to not have "game days" and stuff. GOOOO BIIIGGG REEEDDD, GO BIG RED :)

Even though it was cool and really windy it was still an awesome time at the beach.

We took two cars to Raglan and the driver of my car was this kiwi named Oliver. He saw this sign on the way back for Bridal Veil Falls and on the spur of the moment decided we should check them out. We were running a bit late for dinner but after see the falls we were SO thrilled that we stopped. The top lookout point only took about 10 mins to get to and the middle lookout point only was 2 mins more so it was perfect.

Bridal Veil falls from the middle lookout point

Here is the view from the top lookout point.

Wairere Falls trip

Last weekend we went on another hike to another waterfall, the Wairere Falls. It was incredible. This hike was a bit more challenging than the last one because we had about a billion steps to climb up. Here's a picture of us waiting for the end of the line to catch up. It pays to be at the front because you get more breaks to wait for the end. The end didn't get any because once they caught up with us, we would start going again.

We got to the halfway point and took a break to take pictures and eat a snack. It was so cool to look out and see this massive waterfall. Craig, one of the staff and leader of the hike said we would be going to the top of the waterfall which was hard to imagine since it looked so far away and high up. Here I am at the midway lookout point.

The hike path was really pretty with green everywhere. Here is a picture of me by this really cool mossy bolder. I liked the streams and stuff on the way.

Sure enough though we got up there and the view was absolutely breathtaking. You are standing right where the water is falling off the cliff. The water was really low so we got to walk out on the rocks and take photos and stuff. This is where I ate my lunch. I wish I could have a view like this every day. When we first got up there it was a little rainy which wasn't a big deal but after about 5 minutes it stopped and was nice and sunny.

Here's a picture of me at the top lookout point and another picture of the view when it stopped raining.

This is the edge where the water flows of the cliff

Here's a picture of some of the other students walking around the rocks since the water was low.

This is me, Leah and Frank. We tried to take an "artsy" cd cover photo. I don't know if I would classify it as artsy, more just that Frank and I look like we say something to the left and Leah is confused about it.

Here are some pictures I took from the van window on the ride back. The mountains are covered with trees and the grass is SO green. I also took one of the cows because back at school we live right next to a farm and they have cows so sometimes the cows are right next to the fence of the property. It's so weird to live so close to cows. I know I grew up in Nebraska, the beef capital with Omaha Steaks, but I only really saw cows when I was driving somewhere. I never heard them mooing or lived right next to them. It's a new experience. This last week they were "calfing" so we actually saw a cow give birth when we were driving up the driveway/road to school. Just random, right next to the road, a cow giving birth.

After the trip we stopped at McDonalds for icecream cones (only .60). They call McDonalds "Mackers" here. The best part was seeing this sign right next to it that said to "Look for Trains". We thought we'd better take it seriously and get a photo. :) This is Leah, me, Michelle and Frank. I don't understand what Frank is doing either.