Monday 29th March 2004, Day 198/366 - Cambridge, New Zealand to Matamata, New Zealand.

Took a trip into Hamilton to check it out. It's NZ's largest inland city and there were traffic jams trying to get in. Also heard on the radio that through the night the desert road had been closed due to snow so I guess I chose the right day to come up.

Hamilton would only be a small town if it was in the UK. It's a nice little place, but not stunning. It looked partly put together in that 70's style and as it's not on the backpackers route so it was quite hard to find internet and it was impossible to find cheap internet.

Hamilton didn't capture my imagination too much so I headed to Matamata to see what that was about before going off to meet the Tanners. Matamata is where Hobbiton was set and the town obviously plays on that. I thought $50 for the tour was a little excessive.

On leaving the town I saw an Animal Control van being driven by a man with a 'tache. I followed it and confronted the driver as he was selecting garlic. I was right it was Eric so we had a good chat, then the kids, in-laws and wife came home. I had planned to go on to Rotorua tonight, but was persuaded to stay, despite the fact they had a full house. Had a really nice night.