| What Matamata looks like right now never looked like that many many years ago. In fact it is said that it would've looked more like middle earth then. But a man by the name of Josiah Clifton Firth drained the swamps, put in roads and made the river accessible. The land was developed into town sections and Matamata, a Maori word meaning headland, was created.
He not only created the town itself but he also started building the Firth Tower in 1880 and completed it by February 1882, being adjacent to the first Homestead established in 1879 and destroyed by fire in 1902. The existing homestead was rebuilt in 1902. The old homestead houses had many possessions of the Firth family. The Tower, with three storeys, is probably the tallest structure in Matamata. Artifacts from the Maori and European culture are on display there. Outside, a number of colonial buildings are set up as a village. Among them are the old school, a jail, farm buildings, workers' cottages, a railway carriage, a church, and a dwelling. The railway carriage have pictures displayed and plans of how the rail tunnel was built through the Kaimais. The tunnel took 20 years to complete as the job was so difficult to do. Although the church no longer holds religious services, it is still used for weddings, christenings and funerals. The former homestead is beautifully set out in colonial style with lush furnishings and valuable china. The old Methodist Church built in 1914 was moved to the site as a gift from the Church Trustees and is still available for weddings as are the surrounding grounds. There is also a maori legend which has inspired me and is a good inspiration to us all. It happened in the town of Waharoa about a five minute drive from Hobbiton. Click here if you wish to read it. Matamata has finally been put on the map, but is more noticed as the town of Hobbiton, situated in the north island of New Zealand. It's a great place to live as your in the centre of everything. Mount Maunganui, Tauranga, Hamilton, Rotorua are major towns that are surrounding Matamata. There are also smaller communities like Waharoa, Te Aroha, Hinuera, Morrinsville, Tirau, Putaruru and many more. Some of the scenes from the Lord of the Rings movies were filmed on a farm near the town of Matamata. There is much commotion over the 'Welcome To Hobbiton' sign which is situated in the middle and on Broadway. We have had an overwhelming amount of tourists come into Hobbiton Matamata to take their pictures beside the sign, and catch a bus or van ride from the information Centre which has had a complete facelift and is totally emerged in the Hobbiton style. The first real Hobbiton sign was uplifted and stolen once as well. Recreation is just limited by your imagination in this town. You can visit the Hobbiton farm, visit the over 120 year old Firth Tower, take a hike up to the top of Wairere falls, take a walk down our beautiful Cenntenial Drive, take a peak at the astonding view from the kaimai look out, visit near-by towns, go swimming at either Centennial Pools located right in Hobbiton Matamata or take a small drive out to the Opal Hot Springs which is next door to the Crystal Springs, also a golfing range out that way, or take a trip to Te Poi and play golf right next to The Big Cow Pub and Restarant, or take advantage of our public library, go shopping... phew thats a lot to do and I know I missed out a lot more but it's just a walk in the park. To keep up with the ever flowing visitors we are getting, Hobbiton Matamata will be bringing in more businesses which I know are definte and those are Repco (sells car parts and accessories), McDonalds, Subway and Pagani (a fashionable growing clothing business). Rumor has it that Burger King may also be coming to Hobbiton Matamata, but I have not heard a definte that it will be here along with the others listed above. It may shine through in the later stages. The people here are nothing short of amazing. Though you might think I'm biast, it's true. There is so much to do here in Hobbiton Matamata that it's easily missed if you are a local who has moved out of town. Theres so much more left to discover that you really have to come here and explore it before you really understand what a beautiful and wonderful town it really is. |
| HoBBit LiNks Information On Matamata Firth Tower Museum Whats Your Hobbit Name? Whats Your Elven Name? Hobbiton Tours A Matamata Website |
| Click the thumbnails to see pictures of landmarks from Hobbiton. Pictures were collected from other websites. NOTE: Pictures are displayed in a new pop up window. |
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