Piha - Port Waikato - Hamilton - Raglan

So, my friend Brenda and I set off Saturday from Auckland to Piha, which is quite a popular surf spot in NZ. We spent a few nights there, did a bit of surfing and looking around, going over to KareKare as well. The roads around here are very tight and windy, with no shoulders and straight drop-offs that go way down. After the waves kind of died out, we ended up leaving Monday morning for Hamilton.

On the way we detoured to Port Waikato, having a look at the waves, but there was nothing there. We spent the night in Hamilton at a friend of Brenda's and left this morning (Tuesday) for Raglan, where we are now. I also took my first shot at driving, which I haven't found bad at all, but sometimes you have to think about what's going on and how and where to turn. Don't want to turn into oncoming traffic!

Did a bit of surfing right when we got here in Raglan, on a point break that was all rocks. It's hard to get out into water deep enough not to wreck your board when you can't see where you're stepping and are constantly twisting your ankle and stepping on jagged rocks. After finally getting out, there were 30+ people on the points where it was breaking, all WAY better than I, and I never got a wave. At all. Spent an hour and a half out there just trying, but when other people can paddle faster, they get the waves. Oh well, I'm sure there is other places we can go where it's not so busy. Getting out of the ocean was the most interesting, with waves behind you pushing you on to the rocks, where again, you can't see where you're stepping. I cut up my feet pretty good from the barnacles, but at least I didn't ding my board, so I don't mind the cuts.

Going surfing here again in about an hour, hopefully somewhere with fewer people and a softer bottom.