One House In Matamata

A house in Matamata

One of the reasons I wanted to show you Matamata is this house, above. While my host was playing golf yesterday, I strolled the neighborhoods and scoped out the cool houses I walked past. This wasn't even the prettiest house. There were many just as nice, and some prettier. But something touched me about the splendid way the town had been planned - large yards, front and back, houses wide apart, split streets with green grass and trees in between, tons of room for kids to ride bikes and play 'kick the can' on a summer's eve (no, I don't know if they play kick the can), and cute main streets filled with entertainment cafes and shops. There must have been some pretty special Town Planners involved back when Matamata was developed. They were brilliant!

As I walked that morning, I set to wondering how to get to the places I needed to be, without a car. Reasons for NOT renting a car had out-weighed the reasons FOR it, although some gentle Kiwis thought this idea strange. I'm inclined to agree with them, now. My hostess, after all, rescued me in her 'flash' car after eating myself silly at the Hobbit Luncheon (new word alert: flash is a Kiwi word meaning 'fancy'). Just about everything at my airbnb - including the cat - is 'flash':

The flash cat

*Her husband Greg drove me to Matamata and back on Saturday

*The iSite manager (Tourist Information) arranged a cab to take me to Matamata Sunday morning to catch the bus to Auckland

*my hostess did something else entirely kind and voluntarily (and I am not going to say what), saving my bacon

*getting from downtown Auckland to the Ferry,

*getting from the Ferry to Half Moon Bay,

*from Half Moon Bay to Bleakhouse Road, and Fowey.

I never did find the Ferry, or Half Moon Bay. It was raining sideways and my phone was almost dead, and when a man said there is NO FERRY TODAY and that I should get a bus to Panmure and then another bus to Howick, I freaked and dialed Uber. I kid you not, people, the driver appeared in 15 SECONDS, opened his window, called my name, and said - "GET IN". 

I did.

See you along the way!

the SconeLady

Another house in Matamata

P.S.: Definition for Matamata:

"A grotesque South American freshwater turtle that has a broad flat head and neck with irregular projections of skin resembling waterweed." (Google)

"Matamata means headland." (Google)

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