While number 3 might seem a lit-
tle ridiculous, the Pacific Northwest
roads I’m used to rarely leave you feel-
ing uncomfortable whilst maintain-
ing the speed limit … If you kept up
to the speed limit on these roads, you
wouldn’t be around long enough to
feel uncomfortable! Number 4 might
be the biggest lesson of all - be it a
tourist forgetting what side of the road
to drive on despite the massive, nev-
er-ending signs reminding everyone,
or a maniac passing when he can’t
see through the corner, having some-
one coming at you in the wrong lane
is something you need to be prepared
for across the whole country.
Raglan is known as a surf town fa-
mous for its laid back atmosphere and
surf school resorts, which I happily
side-stepped to do my first camping
in New Zealand and, alas, learned that
most places in New Zealand have fire
bans at this time of year eliminating
a top 3 reason to camp. Thankfully I
ended up parked next to Chase, a laid
back Californian who has been travel-
ing and WOOFing around the country
with his fiancé in their travel van, al-
though his wife to be was off at a fam-
ily wedding of her own at the time.
An evening of cold ones on Raglans
famous black sand beach discussing
the many wonders and pitfalls of the
world ended with him perfectly hon-
est response to my happiness ques-
tion:
“Happiness, to me, is the peace of
not wanting more.“
Exiting Raglan towards Bridal Veil
Falls, I again fell for the allure of the
long way, taking the curvy coast-cling-
ing Whaanga road. This was my first
time off-road with Robin fully laden
and my initial concerns with handling
the additional weight were quickly
forgotten as the road was well main-
tained and never ceased to distract me
with a breathtaking display of greens,
blues, and blacks. Despite riding an-
other 8,500km around the country, the
way the steep, sheep dotted, jade hills
met the tall, opal cliffs before falling
TRAVERSE 23