Raglan Bound

We drive out to our favourite place, Picton, in order to catch the ferry. What I have in mind is similar to BC Ferries, but I am mistaken.

Firstly: You MUST pre-book your tickets. You have to know the exact length of your vehicle cause that's a factor in the price and seat sales are in three categories. Once the cheapest tickets sell out, you have to purchase the more expensive ones in the next bracket and so forth. We get in the second bracket, the entire price tag: $303.00.

Secondly: You have to arrive at least an hour early if you want to make your boat. Then you get sit and wait and wait and wait some more. The boat itself is smaller, but pretty close to the ferry boats us islander know and loathe: cafeteria, kids play area, deck, but they serve alcohol (bonus) and have these rails that go through the car decks so that they can load entire trains (crazy cool) also, they entire trip is almost 4 hours.

Thirdly: You can't hangout in your vehicle, you have to go upstairs and then they lock all the car deck door. Super lame when you want to nap in your cozy van. I don't know if its a safety thing or to prevent theft or what, but it's lame as (look at me picking up Kiwi slang!)

We nap on the floor and awake in windy Wellington where we do not stay even a minute. Instead we begin immediately up towards Raglan, our planned, semi-final destination. We stop in Whanganui and stay at the 'free campsite' (another parking lot, but facing a park and adjacent to the river this time.)
We are so enchanted with this little town that we spent the next day exploring the downtown area. We get so into it that before we know it, it's already dinner time so we resolve to stay another night and leave first thing in the morning. The next day we find ourselves distracted yet again, but this time we are actually productive enough to apply for multiple fruit picking jobs.
We finally start off and make it to Otorohanga but by the time we arrive it's 10:00 pm and the receptions at both local holiday sites are closed. So Jordan and I do what we do best: camp discreetly and illegally on a little side street. In the morning we are up early and off to the public washrooms. While trying to rummage some breakfast together I make a horrifying discovery: the coffee plunger is BROKEN! It has a huge crack in the bottom. I am heartbroken. But at that exact moment, as if sensing our distress, our saviour walks by carrying a huge cardboard box.

“Want a coffee?” he asks.

“What?”
“A coffee.”

“Is it... free?” I reply.

“Yup. Come on, follow me.”

I practically sprint after him as he walks into Origins Coffee, a quaint cafe built in an old train station.
“What do you want?”
“What can I have?”
“Anything.” OH MY GOD!

I ask for an americano and he launches into a rant about how what I really want is a long black. As long as it's strong and black I'll be happy.

The man is named Roger and he tells us that he's from Malawi and features all Malawi fair trade coffee beans. Jordan mentions that she can do a little latte art and he insists she comes behind the counter and show him. She nervously does as he says and pours a lodge-perfect fern. Roger is somewhat impressed.
“Why all the freebies?”
“Cause you're going to like us on Facebook.” (Done and done.)

We practically vibrate out the door. 

 We successfully make it Hamilton where we're determined to shower before a day of job hunting. According to 'Campermate' there are showers at “Water World” (different from the terrible Kevin Costner movie.) We drop into the local iSite and the woman gives us directions and tells us it's a $6 admission.
“What if we JUST want to shower, is it cheaper?” I ask.

“Why don't you just go for a swim?” she asks as if we're total and utter idiots.

Why not indeed? It's hot, we deserve a good soak and despite the terrible name, Water World sounds enchanting. We arrive and soon realize why not: Because the place is FULL of children and wow are they ever annoying!

Jordan and I are the only people who are over 15 but under 40. There is an outdoor pool but it's shallow and full to the gills. There are water slides and diving boards but they all cost extra and worst of all: there is NO HOTTUB! What kind of water world is this?!

We retreat to the 'slow' swimming lane and do laps (the closes thing we've had to exercise in weeks) we're quickly short of breath so we decide we're over this place. Before heading to our lockers we spot a steam room and sneak in (the extra $4.00 charge be damned!) then take the longest showers possible. Jordan gets peeped on by a small child, twice.

We leave and go to our overnight parking spot at the Glenmore Club, it's a $10 lot but has a couple patches of grass and some sparse trees. In the morning we are Raglan bound, we've had a couple of bites on the fruit picking front but we're not convinced. Life in Raglan is our goal.

We get into town and can immediately see why Tofitians are always moving here: it's a more tropical Tofino in every way. It's stunning, full of hippies, surfers, good and bad energy.

A drunk woman yells at us while we pass: “I can tell you're not from Raglan. If you were from Raglan you would have said 'Hello.'”

I turn, “Hello,” I offer weakly. She flips me off (as I write this, she is the second stranger to flip me off here.)

Jordan has an interview later so we wander around and handout resumes. The first sport I see is called “The Black Sand Cafe” so I leave a resume. Five minutes later I receive a phone call asking me to come in tomorrow for a training shift. Take that all you nay-sayers who told me I would never find a job here!

We go to the backpackers, but they're booked up months in advance and they're not looking for any WWOOFers. We go to the iSite and the woman working tells us about “Kev's Place” the cheapest car camping around (this ends up being a lie, we eventually find cheaper camping at a more convenient location) its a little ways out of town but ends up being worth the trek because the grassy camping field is perched high above and overlooks all of Raglan. Kev lives in a old boat he has converted into a house, there are two cute residential dogs and loads of little paths leading to outhouses and showers (yes, showers!) We are up bright and early(ish) so I can go to my training shift. After, we hit all the backpackers looking to work for accommodation. All of them tell us they don't need anymore help. Disheartened, we head to the library and send out masses of emails in hopes of finding somewhere to live. We run into Tom, Kev's WWOOFer. He is also job-hunting albeit rather unsuccessfully.

We stay at Kev's another night and then move onto 'Scott's Accommodation.' It is also out of town and features a furry companion (a dog named Kelly) but it is built out of his house, has power and WiFi and boasts all the free ice cream you can eat. We stay there for a few days before moving onto Kariori Lodge, beautiful, more conveniently located, but no WiFi. Jordan gets the job at Harbour View Hotel and the two of us continue to desperately search for accommodation.

To be continued....