haven't got any pics of Raglan yet, this one will have to do!!

Anyway, after getting sick of there being no surf in one of the 'biggest surf towns in NZ' we decided to head for Raglan. It was a bit of an eventful journey, as the van was playing up quite a lot and we broke down quite a few times! It keeps stuttering and cutting out while we're driving along, so we have to stop, play around with the engine a bit and then get going!! There was another 2 friends in their car with us, so luckily we weren't just by ourselves - at least they could go and get help if it was really bad! We managed to drive all the way there, it just seems to fix itself which is really wierd. However it did take us 5 hours to do a 3 hour drive....

We got to Raglan and headed straight for the beach. The waves were really big, and the currents very strong, luckily there were lifeguards on duty so felt safe. I had to come out after about 15 mins though because i couldn't even get out there the current was so strong! Jack and Ryan had a good hour out there though. The sunset was absolutely amazing there because Raglan is on the west coast, can't wait to get the pics up.

Ryan and Laurence went home, but we decided to stay the night - didn't really fancy breaking down at night time! We got up early and had a walk around Raglan - it is very small, but really nice too!

We headed off quite early, the van broke down about 4 times, and we were really pooing our pants going over the Kaimi's (big massive mountains, uphill for about half an hour!) but we made it, and broke down on the way down!!!

We got the van looked at when we got back, and it seems the petrol filter was totally clogged so no petrol was getting through to make it go - that's why it was stuttering and cutting out! We got a new filter, and now it's running really well. (hope hope!).

I bet Teresa and Joanne are really looking forward to driving around in it for a few days.....!!!

Hope everyone is well

Linsey and Jack xxxx