Rain And Reggae In Raglan

Raglan is the surfing capital of New Zealand. Located just two hours south of Auckland, it is a completely different world. Our accommodation is an old railway carriage in the eco-backpacker camp at www.solscape.co.nz. Situated on the slopes of the extinct volcano Mount Karioi, it overlooks the surf beach.

The legendary surfer film “Endless Summer” was shot here sometime in the 1960s. However, nobody here has seen it, and the local branch of United Video doesn’t have it on offer either. First evening, reggae party in the only pub in the village. Everyone has bleached blonde curls, blue eyes, flip-flops and board shorts. Even Smurfs come in more varieties.

I find the uniformity of the surfers really funny. After three local beers, each with exactly 4% alcohol, I start to philosophise. Surfing is all that ultra-individualistic stuff with waves and water, isn’t it? Is the uniformity of surfers perhaps a subversive version of independence? Ice-cold shivers. Neuperlach all in white and with uniform front doors – simply unimaginable. I somehow long a little for red and blue edged white tennis socks in my flip-flops.

The Solscape has become even more beautiful since my last visit five years ago. Numerous new herb beds have been planted, there are yoga classes, a bar and restaurant, two clay houses, an Argentinian barbecue grill and a wood-fired pizza oven. I knead the dough for our pizza with my hands within 30 minutes. But firing up the clay oven takes a whopping one and a half hours and costs three quarters of an hour of smoke inhalation. But then the oven is at least hot enough for the first pizza to be mobbing the neighbouring charcoal with the words “fucking paleface” within five minutes.

The travellers here are good. Lots of surfers, not much else on their minds, but very colourful. I’m just wondering all the time when the right wind for kiting will come. Even after the year of la Nina, Windfinder is surprisingly often completely wrong in New Zealand. Unfortunately, the forecast was good until the day before yesterday. To cut a long story short: kiting in Raglan is no longer on the cards. The sun only shone on the evening of our arrival and departure. In between, it rained almost non-stop for three days in the permaflake.

During a short break in the rain, we drive around the extinct 750-metre-high volcano Mount Karioi on a rather washed-out gravel road. After almost two weeks in New Zealand, it’s simply time to start our hiking programme, which has been generously neglected so far. Three weeks after the last preparation for this programme, all the results from the fitness studio have already been completely biodegraded.

The path is first muddy through the steep rainforest, then continues uphill through chest-high, soaking wet grass with wonderfully slippery, invisible stones underneath. The rain that starts soon afterwards only makes the situation slightly worse. But when we push through the cloud cover from below after just 350 metres in altitude, with no prospect of gorillas in the mist, we’ve simply had enough. We give up. Just three days later, our shoes are almost dry again.

There are worse things, but even in the dreamiest railway carriage, at some point the ceiling falls on your head. In our case, literally. A family of sparrows has taken up residence under a former ventilation extractor. From 5.30 in the morning, their little ones make a hell of a racket every day.

Yes, I know, as a good German you actually call the police first before complaining in person. But there are simply no sun loungers anywhere here that you could reserve with your towel at this time of day. And I’ve caught myself speaking English to Uli on my own several times. In other words: I’m almost no longer German.

So this non-German bangs his fist on the ceiling directly under the nest. Result: bird poo shower. Haver a lovely organic morning! My revenge will be cruel. I need a nudist beach, at least 18 knots of wind, a kite and a low-flying bird…

Quietly and secretly, my blog turned 500 with the last article – Happy Birthday!