During Sunday’s update, when Raglan was first mentioned, one person noticed the sign language interpreter do a shaka as a translation for the town. The screenshot of this moment quickly made its way to Reddit, where users were amused to see the sign for the town.
“This is probably the least surprising thing I’ve learnt all year but I’m still amazed,” one says.
“How appropriate,” another commented.
The tourism website for Waikato describes Raglan as “the perfect surfing landscape” with a “surf culture and relaxed vibe”.
The website says Raglan surf culture found worldwide fame with the 1966 movie The Endless Summer, where Manu Bay features as the beach with waves so long that “Raglan surfers don’t carry wax, they carry lifeboat rations”.
Other water sports such as kiteboarding, kayaking, windsurfing, and stand-up paddleboarding have also become more popular in recent years, but surfing “remains top of the list”.