While I’m waiting…

While we were waiting for the tour to commence, we went to this place – the Robert Harris Coffee Roasters…

…to have breakfast. I think my friend mentioned something to the effect that this is New Zealand’s equivalent to Starbucks or Coffee Bean.

I was very much attracted to what they had on their walls…

…all over the shop…

I wondered if this one was referring to the journey that we would be making while on the Hobbiton movie set tour…

They even had something special on their sachets of sugar…

…and their serviettes…

Hmmmm!!!! Thrills? I certainly hope so…but spills? No, thank you. Touch wood!!! LOL!!!

I think this was what Melissa had…

…and my friend’s son had this miserable-looking mushroom on toast…

I heard something about it being not on their regular menu but he asked for it and they were willing to do it just for him.

Well, I’m not too sure what else the rest had but they ordered for me their very nice “Big Breakfast”…

…and I certainly am glad I had that.

At that point in time, I did not know that I was about to embark on a journey that would provide me with enough exercise for the next five years, at least…and I certainly would need all the energy I could get to do that – I will tell you all about that in the next post. Hang on, ya!

Band of gold…

Welcome back! Now on with the show…

“Mata” in Malay means “eyes”…and if I’m not mistaken “mata-mata” refers to the police and that is why in Hokkien, we call a policeman, “Mata” as well. But in New Zealand, Matamata is the name of a town which became famous overnight as this was where The Hobbit – An Unexpected Journey was filmed on location at a site not far from the town proper. You can click the link and watch the video about this…or you can wait a while as I would be blogging about this in a later post.

Because of this connection, I think the town now refers to itself as Hobbiton…

It is a nice, small town, not unlike any others around the country…

…and is not very busy, as you can see in the photographs…

We walked around the place a bit, looking at some of the shops and then, we saw it! The ring!!!…

Fans of the LOTR (Lord of the Rings) Trilogy movies would know instantly what ring that was. This shop specialises in LOTR memorabilia…

…and this quaint building that looks like something from the movie as well is the Matamata Information Centre…

…where you can buy your tickets for the Hobbiton movie set tour…

…or collect them, if you have booked them online…

They’re not cheap though – NZ$75 per person…and I really must thank my friend and her family for taking us to Matamata, arranging for the tour for us and paying for everything – we truly appreciate their kindness and generosity and thank them so very much from the bottom of our hearts for making it all possible.

The coach will pick you up here and take you to the exact location of the movie set and you will board another bus there to go on a tour of the place – more on this coming soon!