In My Hood: Anna Coddington

Whale Bay Reserve, Calverts Rd, Whale Bay
This is a beautiful spot. Just some really nice grass and rocks and ocean. There's a couple of seats and usually there's no one around except the people out surfing. It's nice to just go have a sit for a while. There used to be some choice swings, but I just went down the other week and they're gone now. I hope they replace them. I spent many years swinging away down there, right next to the sea.

Tongue and Groove Cafe, Bow St
This has been around for ages. One of the fist cafes in Raglan. When I was little there was just the Four Square, the Duck Inn dairy, the Raglan West Store, the BP - and that's about it. That's all I needed back then, a 50c mixture and a cheese roll! But I'm a coffee fiend now since I moved to Auckland, so it's good that this place and a few others are doing good coffee and kai. And they have coffee club cards that only need four stamps till you get a free one! That is value.

The Campground
Swings, seesaw, lullaby, merry-go-round, ice cream and fish and chip shop, bombs off the bridge... Awesome.

Ngarunui Beach, off Wainui Rd
The main swimming beach. Choice fun down there. You can swim, surf and build sandcastles. There’s something for everyone. In summer these days it gets REAL busy. The sand gets so hot it'll burn the soles of your feet. Worth it though. Also, it's right next to Wainui Reserve where they have Soundsplash. That's the reggae festival and it's always good times.

The Yot Club, Bow St
 Raglan's first dedicated bar and music venue. I played there in March with my band and it was a party. Raglan people love to party so they really needed this place. It's my Dad's bar. His name's Peter and he's cool. They've had heaps of really choice gigs down there.