Raglan Art Trail – Day 33

Today we really wanted to go kayaking to the Pancake Rocks which is just across the channel from Raglan Backpackers and you get there by kayak free if you are staying at the Raglan Backpackers but it’s chucking it down with rain constantly and obviously everyone at the backpackers is like: “Don’t do it – don’t go out there. It’s awful.” So looks like that plan is out of the window but instead, we need to find something to do for a rainy day in Raglan.

This morning the weather has really not been good. Now there are some pretty bad waves in the estuary so we can’t even picture what the ocean looks like. the hostel has put some signs “No surf today – it’s too dangerous – No paddle boarding today it’s too dangerous. No kayaking today it’s too dangerous.” So my plan’s to go to the Pancake Rocks is a little bit compromised since we can’t kayak there and that’s the only way to get there. The hostel owner, Suze, recommends going on a bit of an art trail around Raglan to get a bit of a taste for what the town’s all about. This is the lovely map that I have. Right? So we’re going to try to find seven that’s seven art galleries around Raglan. i think we should start with the one that is the furthest one form town which in my opinion is going to be that way. But that’s only my expert opinion since I’ve been living in Raglan for about you know two days now.

Alright, so I am a little bit lost cos on the beautiful drawing map that I got it says Stuart Street S-T-U-A-R-T and this is Stewart Street S-T-E-W-A-R-T. And first on our little map is the Old School Art Gallery. We go up to the door and sure enough, the handle is locked. Well, to be honest, Robin, I’m a bit disappointed. So we go up the street a little bit and we go to “Hello” art gallery which when we get there we realise it’s called Ahoy!Art Gallery. Either way, Hello/Ahoy whatever doesn’t matter because that’s closed as well. Yeah, I actually liked the outside of this gallery a lot more than the first one – it was kind of like a taste of the art before you get in there. Just a real shame we didn’t get in there.

There’s six more art galleries to go, surely some are open. And we arrive to this Pink Palace Art Gallery which is really well-branded with a massive art sign on it. There is a big sign that says “open” so I’m like: “Yeah! We’re going to see some art!” And we look at the studio which is actually very small so we’re like by looking through the window we already saw most of it. No one’s here… No one’s replying. There is no one here. I don’t think it was open. So where are all the artists in Raglan? What is happening right now? We’ve been to three art galleries and three of them are closed. I’m worried about it. I’m that close to call search and rescue right here for anyone with a paint brush in his hand. Find me a guy with a canvas. there is someone walking around Raglan right now lost with a paint brush and a canvas under his arm. There is someone walking around with a bunch of clay. Find him! What is happening? What’s happened? Has there been like an art gallery apocalypse right here? SO there is no artists to be found in Raglan. Laura is like yay close to give up but I’m like: “You know what? the next art gallery is going to be awesome.” We walk down the road and we find the Matapihi Art Gallery. it looks open, there are about five signs saying it’s open. So we walk in and ahhhhhhh a lady comes to the door, she opens the door. It is open! We can go into an art gallery. It is open. It’s basically an old house that has been refitted as an art gallery and there is a lot. there is really a lot to see. There is both clothing, canvases, there is a lot of jewellery, there are some sculptures. This house is actually really cool. there’s little frames where you can look through one room to the next room and along the bottom of the room is this road signs with paintings on them. There’s jewellery everywhere – there’s clothes, there’s huge canvases that take up the whole ceiling making up a scene of Raglan and there’s a lot to see here so definitely worth a look. There was like cards and stuff – I was trying to find some birthday cards for my mum and dad, cos it’s both their birthdays coming up, so I was looking at cards and stuff.

We keep on walking down Bow Street to arrive at the Jet Art Gallery so Jet is a collective of local artists that comes together in the Jet Art Gallery to display what they’ve made. They also create a few events where artists can meet and all of that. So, it’s pretty cool. There is a lot to see. There’s modern and quirky sort of art.

The coolest thing about this art gallery is there’s these tiny little canvases that are all different lighthouses around New Zealand. if I had a house and I had somewhere to hang art, I would definitely buy these.

The final place on our map today is… It just says art gallery. It’s like just a a jewelers basically. We go to a jewellery place. So yeah, after walking around Raglan. It has been raining quite a lot on our faces so it’s time to get a nice hot drink and we are pointed out to Raglan Roast. So Raglan Roast is to us the recommended coffee in Raglan, so we have to test it right? And it’s like playing some reggae music and it’s like a cool chilled out vibe there. We have a cake which I chose and I have no idea what the cake is – the guy selling the cake doesn’t know what it is but he says” Oh yeah but the lady who makes them everything she makes is awesome, so you know it’s going to be good.” And it is good. There’s a little suitcase which opens up and it’s a game of Backgammon. And it’s my first time playing and I win and yeah, back to the hostel for homemade soup.

A very awesome little map. I actually really like it because someone’s been using the crayons on this and they managed to stay inside all the lines when colouring.