Raglan Palm Beach Motel

"Take a step back in time and experience this classic 1970s 'Kiwiana' style motel." Thus sayeth the brochure.

And it really does feel like that, like the motels we grew up staying in on the Florida coast.

The all-important WOF

We left Grey Lynn after breakfast and made our way south, to the shop that had denied the WOF originally. Really nice guys there. They saw the work that had been done by the place they recommended and we were off, sticker on windscreen. We're official!

Auckland to Raglan

Here's a map of our route today (trouble viewing click here), much of it on the Southern Motorway/Highway 1 with many stretches of road works (construction) along the way.  But once we turned west toward the coast, t'was a lovely winding road, beautiful farm country interspersed with segments like this.

Raglan is famous for this:

8km west from Raglan town lies the world-famous surf break Manu Bay. The long, peeling left-hand break, said to offer one of the longest rides in the world, featured in the 1966 surfing film Endless Summer.

After a nice gin fizz in the 75-degree sun (it feels strong and utterly restorative), we walked across the bridge into Raglan town for early dinner. A little organic grocery along the way had some beautiful produce for tomorrow.

Then it was on to Orca for a fine meal, the highlight this fish soup, rich and cheesy and slightly spicy. Art's pate was excellent too. Our bellies are full after a long day and there's a cool breeze off the water.