Surely Raglan couldn’t be as cool as Avi said it would be.That’s because no place could be THAT cool. But it was better. From the moment we glimpsed the rooftops of the town and the white foam of the waves to the moment they disappeared behind us as we headed for Aukland, Raglan was amazing. Upon arrival we settled into a hostel called Solscape. To describe how we felt about it, the group put together the following adjectives; chill, dank, dope, majestic, spiritual, charming, and cool. We remained there for two nights and filled our days with exploring Raglan, surfing, and hanging on the beach. To our dismay, our time at Solscape came to an end. We then set out for the Marae ready for new adventures.
In order to come onto the Marae we had to be officially welcomed in a ceremony. With every step we took approaching that ceremony on the Marae, we realized how little we really knew about what we were getting ourselves into. But by the end of the week we had more information to process then we could have imagined. From living in a school to basket weaving to language class to waterfalls to volunteer work to hikes to learning a Haka(which is a traditional Maori war dance), we were continually challenged and learning. By learning the ways of a different people, we learned more about ourselves and our group. We are probably closer now than we ever were before. Each chapter of this journey challenges us in new ways and tests each of our limits. I hope we never forget what the Maori people taught us but take it on with us through life to teach others about the people who are restoring their destroyed culture and making the world a better place.
Pictures- Tiff
Blog- Olivia