Raglan and its famous waves

My last days in Rotorua weren't interesting: the weather was still bad and I've already seen everything I wanted to see, so I made plans with Chiara and we wandered through the streets together: looking in here, stopping there. Just normal shopping/strolling.

This might be a good moment to mention the Christmas decoration in New Zealand. Yes, the Kiwis decorate their streets and malls too. This naturally amplifies our Christmas spirit. Christmas :D

Yesterday, I took the Straybus to Raglan, a small town on the West Coast.
Raglan doesn't have much to offer, except for many beaches with world-famous waves for surfing, boxes, paragliding, and whatever else you can do (by the way, no swimming!).
Although I haven't stood on a surfboard even once, I will stay here for three days. Maybe I'll find something else in the area, like a waterfall or something.
Instead of sleeping in the hostel (mainstream), I'm trying couchsurfing again. My host this time is a bit quirky, but I have my own room in a house - that has become such a luxury in my life nowadays!
In return, I work a few hours in the garden and cook dinner. It's not an obligation for me, I actually enjoy it!
So, everything is taken care of from that side.
Today, after pulling weeds, I set out to explore the town. There's a central shopping street with a few boutiques, hotels, and restaurants.
Cliché as it may be, half of the residents are actually on longboards. People, we're not in Hawaii!
But there are beautiful paths along the coast, offering impressive views of the water. I've really fallen in love with this turquoise color!
But as always, there's a catch: the wind.
I haven't experienced such a wind in New Zealand yet. I really had to push against it to make progress along the coast. Intense!

After an hour, I was done with Raglan and it was 1 PM. Damn. What to do?
So, despite the wind, I set out to visit those beaches. Still better than rain.
What looked pretty close on the map turned out to be a 1.5-hour hike... yup, along the road. And I had a headwind. Both ways. How is that even possible???
The beach was beautiful, no doubt. With dark sand, that amazing water color, and bright sunlight, it made for picturesque pictures.
Did I mention the sunlight? You can probably guess: I wasn't sun-protected. And this time, there was no mercy. I already have the worst sunburn in human history tonight. Okay, maybe not that bad, but it already hurts a lot and my skin is sunburnt. I also look like a panda because I was wearing sunglasses.
Raglan is already annoying me.
I have no idea what to do all day tomorrow (pulling weeds? With sunscreen?), but I'm considering booking a surf lesson for Friday. So I can talk about... the best waves in New Zealand and the whole world!