From Bay of Islands, we wanted to head south to get to Abel Tasman National Park on the north end of the South Island. We had no schedule, so I picked out a beach town on the way. Raglan is west of Hamilton and would help break up the driving. That was about all the thought that went into it.
Raglan is amazing. The beach is beautiful, and it’s a legendary surf spot that’s featured towards the end of the movie The Endless Summer. It has the longest left-hand break in the world. In the movie, they joke that you can only catch two waves a day in Raglan because the ride is so long. At least I think they were joking.
The town is very eco-conscious with a movement to try and become a zero-waste town. It has a pedestrian bridge from a beach to town, and at high tide, everybody jumps off it. It’s probably five or seven meters high. I was tempted but didn’t take the plunge. It has cliffs that overlook the beach. We hiked down from our AirBnB stay.
After morning at the beach, we drove about 30 minutes to see Bridal Veil falls. They’re 55m high (180 feet). As you’ll see, they’re beautiful.
We made a picnic dinner and headed to a cliff top overlooking the beach for sunset.
