Matamata Trip

Here are some awesome pictures to share of my trip to Matamata. I know this happened about a month ago but I still wanted to show you guys this amazing place. :) Hope you'd like it. :)

  Matamata is a lovely small town in the middle of the New Zealand north island. It is about an hour drive away from Hamilton so it is quite accessible. Just fly in to Hamilton and catch a bus from there. The people in the town are lovely and they are quite used to having visitors around as it is the hub to the Hobbitton movie set tour. If you are visiting, New Zealand, this is definitely one site that you never want to miss. :)

One of the decorations in the i-Site building. This whole town is filled with influences from the Hobbitton because tourism is a big source of income for the businesses in this town. These lovely carvings portray some of the Maori culture unique to New Zealand. :)

Not far away, here's a statue of Gollum holding a fish. It is not uncommon to get statues and sculptures of him around town. This is because the Hobbitton is one of the major movie setting for the movie the Lord of the Rings. :)

A little puppet hobbit sitting around casually at the top of the shelf. :)

This is what I was talking about. :) Hobbitton movie set tour decoration just outside i-Site. :) Just while I was waiting for the bus to pick us up for the tour. For the records, the bus was late because it broke down half way through and they had to send a few smaller rescue coaches. Haha. It was a cute scenario. Plus, because it was getting late, I didn't get my farm tour but owh well, can't blame them I suppose. :)

That is a big Gollum sitting in the middle of the divider welcoming people into town. :)

That's another decoration outside i-Site. :)

A closer look at Gollum. :) Hehe.

That's Gollum from the front. I really like the way how the architecture of many parts of the town revolved around the movie. :) Plus, everybody seem to love Gollum's presence here. Haha.

Classic signature horse representing Matamata. :)

One of the lovely scenery of the town. :)

This is a cute sculpture just outside a vet clinic. I found it really interesting and quite symbolic as to what sort of services the place offers. Very smart marketing. Haha.

Just one of those moments when you take a picture and decided to put some logic into it. Haha. :)

The whole town basically was filled with beautiful landscapes like this. I think everyone in town just loves their gardening. :) Not that I'm complaining. Not at all actually. I really love the place.

The signature clock tower welcoming visitors just as they step into town. The tower changes colours at night. Magical isn't it? Haha. It's just the light shining on it that changes colours actually but owh well. I'll just be dramatic. :)

In one of the parks.

Just outside i-Site. :)

One of the pretty murals that we saw on our way back from the Hobbitton tour. I really loved this mural. :)

Well, that's it for the first post back from a long drought but watch out for more. :) I'm on holidays now and that means lots of blogging (I hope). :)

Cheers
YM