Two months ago, I went to a small rural town, 2 hours drive from Auckland to the south, which is called by Matamata. The town is part of the Waikato Region. This town is famous for their best quality of dairy product. One of their best cafes is Kaimai Cheese Cafe. It was built in 1920s by Mr. Frith. I went around last year, on my way back from Rotorua to Auckland. (My trip to Rotorua available in here.) Yet, in that time I have no idea at all that the cafe is one of the best.
Anyway, I went to Matamata as part of my field research and I want to have a quick look about the town. I used naked bus to go there. The price for two ways is around $30 if you're lucky to get the cheap price. Because, sometimes the price doesn't make sense at all.
The welcoming sign.
Turns out that the town is very small and there's no public transport a.k.a bus to wandering around. Most of the residents live close to the railway station and most of them have their own car. Interestingly, this town is very famous nationally and internationally. It is all because of one of the farms over there was being used as the Shire in the Lord of The Rings trilogy movie. I didn't go there yet, because it costs $75 for the entrance fee and it takes around 3 hours to join the tour. I was afraid that I couldn't back on time, because I already booked the bus to return to Auckland.
Since there's no transportation that I could use to wander around, I only spent wandering around in the town center. Walking from one park to another, enjoying the air, the hush, and the beautiful weather. I am definitely going back again to this town later, because I want to go to the Hobbiton.
