For New Years this year, it all came down to beach or barn. The beach won out and so we set off to join the rest of Raglan at some amazing party on a remote beach. The only worry was that I would have to be back at the lodge by 7am or get stranded in Raglan for 4 days. The transportation was organized by my French buddies and so 5 of us set off in a Campervan that seats 2 with a bed in the back. The 3 of us girls ended up sharing the bed as we drove on a uninsurable gravel road that was windy and supposedly pretty dangerous. After what seemed like an endless string of French cursing, erratic hand gestures, tight u-turns, and an extra hour on the road we managed to arrive at the beach 5 minutes before it was time to ring in the New Year.
Ringing in the New Year with old friends
- chilling by the bonfire
What we found was a make shift club on the grassy area near a beach with people camping out and a giant bonfire. There was a hut for dancing including a DJ in the corner. With our bottle of bubble, vodka, and case of beer – we were ready to ring in the New Year just in the nick of time. What can I say other than it was a great party and an awesome way to celebrate my first Kiwi New Years. As a side note – it was more than 5 of us ringing in the New Year together as there were 3 brave souls from my Stray bus that ended up hitchhiking to the beach in order to join us.
Also ringing in the New Year with New Friends
By 4am, the next challenge was all of us getting back before we all got stuck in Raglan. So we went from fitting 5 people in a 2 seater camper van to shoving in 8. Essentially we were all sitting on top of each other and found ourselves lost again on that damn windy gravel road. Have no fear – we made it back with an hour to spare and with very little sleep I boarded the Stray bus to move onto my next adventure.
