2012
Haere Mai Pt 9 … Matamata + Tirau
We arrived at Matamata, a quaint small town while has acclaimed international fame for offering Hobbiton to visitors, appealing to fanboys and fangirls all over the world. If you mention Hobbiton to anyone in New Zealand, they will be able to show you the route, the route to Nirwana for the closet Hobbits. I cross my fingers, I certainly do not want to chance upon any elves, hobbits or even people in cosplay. Dear God, please do not let me meet any of those Japanese or Chinese folks in cosplay costumes here, it’s embarrassing to the whole Asian community. First, the skin tone is all wrong yet ultimately these fantasies should not leave one’s bedroom.
We stop for lunch at KFC, our evil plan was to get free info from the locals. In certain foreign countries, I shall not name them; information comes with a price especially in those developing and third world countries. Here, the folks are very laid back and eager to help or maybe it’s just our good luck but we have not chance upon any asian-hating folks in New Zealand. We hope we won’t, ever. You may visit the Matamata Visitor Information for more info of what to do, what to expect and other info about this small town too. The kind folks at KFC Matamata; the patrons not the staffs shared with us the route to Hobbiton. It would set us back at least NZD66 and we’ve decided not to go for it since New Zealand is scenic enough and paying NZD66 for an exclusive site that has been maintained from a movie set doesn’t seem all that appealing. However if you are ardent fans of Lord of The Rings, you may check out the Hobbiton site for more info. We are more into Twillight so yeah, go team Edward!!!
According to Wikipedia;
Matamata is a rural Waikato town in New Zealand with a population of around 12,000 (6,000 in rural areas, 6,000 in the township). It is located near the base of the Kaimai Ranges, and is a thriving farming area known for Thoroughbred horse breeding and training pursuits. It is part of the Matamata-Piako District, which takes in the surrounding rural areas as well as Morrinsville and Te Aroha. State Highway 27 and the Kinleith Branch railway run through the town.
A nearby farm was the location for the Hobbiton set in Peter Jackson‘s Lord of the Rings film trilogy. The New Zealand government decided to leave the Hobbit holes built on location as tourist attractions, since they were designed to blend seamlessly into the environment. During the interim period filming Return of the King and The Hobbit they had no furniture or props, but could be entered with vistas of the farm viewed from inside them.[1] A “Welcome to Hobbiton” sign has been placed on the main road. In 2011 parts of Hobbiton began to close in preparation for 2 new movies based around the Lord of the Rings prequel novel The Hobbit.
Matamata is also the home of various media outlets, including studios for tvCentral, TV Rotorua and iTV Live, which is unusual for a town of such size.
I bet everyone knows everyone here, it’s a very small town, perhaps the size of Boon Lay.
Reading up on the place, good job on the tourism board for providing great brochures in many forms, everywhere in New Zealand
Krushers!! I got these similar ones in Bali, we don’t have it in Singapore though
The route from Matamata to Tirau and then to Rotorua
The journey to Tirau…continues
It was a short drive from Matamata to Tirau, approximately 20km southwards. I’ve read prior to our trip to New Zealand that Tirau was well known for it’s corrugated iron dog and sheep building that houses the tourist souvenir and information shops which is the iSite, the New Zealand Visitor Information Network. Here you can get lots of information brochures and souvenirs as well as Manuka honey that’s all the rage in town for its medicinal and health benefits. From here, you could either make your way to Taupo or Rotorua and we made a pit stop for some rest time before we continue next to Rotorua. We are finally here!!
As what Wikipedia says;
Tirau is a small town in the Waikato region of the North Island of New Zealand, 50 kilometres southeast of Hamilton. The town has a population of 732 (2006 census) (726 in 2001 and 735 in 1996). Tirau is primarily a farming town but in recent years has begun to exploit the income that comes from being on a major road. Tirau is Maori for “place of many cabbage trees.”
Tirau is a major junction in the New Zealand State Highway network. Just south of the township is the intersection of State Highway 1 and State Highway 5, where traffic from Auckland and Hamilton split to go either to Rotorua (SH 5) or Taupo (SH 1).
More cows grazing the land here, I’m beginning to wonder if New Zealand has more cows than humans
Information on not just Waikato but all over New Zealand including the south island
the local draught store but we’re too sober to get drunk
baa baa iron sheep, have you any wool? u can get souvenirs in here as part of the iSite, New Zealand Visitor Information Network.
Hungry? Thristy much?
It’s spring ar, not autumn…
who’s afraid of the big bad wolf? not me cos this is a dog, ok big iron white dog
2012
Haere Mai Pt 8 … Pukehoke
We woke up early the next morning to start our long drive all the way to Rotorua at 930am NZ time, which was 330am SG time (before the daylight savings kick in that weekend). The sun was bright but the air was chilly so your sight defies your sense of touch and it was time to pile on the clothes before we set off; valuable lesson learnt from the chilly experience the night before. The plan was to ply the route to Rotorua via Matamata as we plan to visit the Lord of The Rings movie set there and we should reach there in 2 hours time if we stick to schedule. We made a quick stop at Pukehoke, to get hold of the sight and because Seng needs to relieve himself in the wild.
Where is Pukehoke? Pukehoke is exactly 1 hr drive from Auckland city, and as Wikipedia tells us;
Pukekohe is a town in the Auckland Region of the North Island of New Zealand. Located at the southern edge of the Auckland Region, it is approximately 50 kilometres south of Auckland City, between the southern shore of the Manukau Harbour and the mouth of the Waikato River. The hills of Pukekohe and nearby Bombay Hills form the natural southern limit of the Auckland region. Pukekohe is located within the political boundaries of the Auckland Council, following the abolition of the Franklin District Council on the 1st of November, 2010.
The Māori word puke-kohe means “hill of the kohekohe”, New Zealand’s native mahogany. During the New Zealand Wars, a battle was fought in Pukekohe known as the Defence of Pukekohe East 1863.
Bohong Wikipedia maka bohonglah saya ye.
I got this authentic ice cream of NZ, the Kapiti for bedtime snack, the night before.
Although this is New Zealand produce but it’s premium stuff hence the pricey price tag of NZD 4.50 which is as expensive as the UK imported Magnum we have in Singapore. Yes people, Magnum in Singapore is wither SGD3.90 to SGD4.20 because it’s imported from UK whereas the Malaysia/Indonesia ones are as cheap as RM3.90 and 11000rupiahs which is like SGD1.80 each respectively. I know this is off topic, I tend to digress to other subjects.
We took the Auckland – Hamilton Motorway to State Highway 1 and exit 477 to merge to State Highway 2. The road cut through a dense vegetation of serene grass fields with the occasional cows grazing the plains and goats + sheeps at the distance. It seems like an endless drive through hills and plains and the eyes get very sleepy but still am amazed at the beauty of it all. Subhanallah!!
As we researched on google map, we took the alternate route to Rotorua via Matamata
As we pass the hills of Bombay
And the endless road of Mangatawiri
The awesome view at Pukehoke
Our ride, the Toyota Camry
Travel buddies, Ah Suih and Tim at the edge of the cliff @ Pukehoke
2012
By aeqmal
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Ode To Razy
Dear Razy
Hope everything’s goin on well for you. Hope your mom’s better now.
xoxo
Mamal + Zalie
Gift pack, we got this at the lobby of SGH; visiting Razy’s mom
Razy and Zalie
Razy and me
2012
By aeqmal
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Cold Stoning
Coldstoning after work will result in brain freeze and sugar rush late at night will induce insomnia esp on working adults. That known fact aside, we had a jolly cold treat from Janice. Awesome.
the damage
while i was chope-ing seats and waiting for them to get me the ice cream
janice and wilford..merry xmas everyone!!
kak nor and abg having their delights
2012
By aeqmal
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Tulang O Tulang
Aku nie sebenarnya tak berapa gemar makan tulang pasal satunya, terlalu leceh. Dikatakan tulang, isi pun takde and kena usaha gigih nak ketuk or sedut pakai straw…. hanya nak dapatkan som som yang dah macam gelatin. Korunk tau tak apa tu gelatin, mesti tak tau kan especially yang tak pernah amik klas home economics masa kat sekolah. Bagi yang tak tau, boleh google ye. Kalau tak tau jugak, maknanya korunk sakit. Sakit apa? Sakit MALAS!
Lagipun tak berkhasiat, nie lemak, minyak semata. I’m allowing this on an occasional basis, last aku makan tulang, rasanya bertahun yang lalu so aku quite safe. Tulang nie special pasal cuma kat Singapore je ader benda alah ni. Artis² hat Malaysia siap jawab, “I datang Singapore, I mesti pergi makan sup tulang”. Tu je ke yang korunk cari bila datang Singapore? Adushhh sedih la kome ni.
So aritu kiter ramai² gi makan tulang dekat Arab Street. Tak payah ler aku nak promote kedai tu, bukan dapat sponsor makan pun. Gi makan kat tepi jalan, dah macam ghetto abes ar. Saper pernah makan kat Kg Baru, KL mesti tau atmosphere dia. Aku memang suka cicah kuah tu dengan roti dan kais sisa² daging kat tulang yang besar kedabak. Tulang kambing tau, kalau tulang lembu…niaya!! Lagaknya dah macam anak Jin makan tulang, comot abis. Aku rasa tahun depan jerlah kalau nak makan tulang lagi pasal tinggi kolestrol ni.
Betul, bukan aku yang cakap, doktor yang cakap.
Bersih, sehingga menjilat jari…burp
Muharam dengan mat mana ntah kat sebelah
Saper kata pompan jaga makan, dorunk lantak semua tapi tetap slim jugak