[Buckland Road]
Taking advantage of the long Labour Day weekend and the clear weather forecast, we decided to drive down south and explore Hamilton. One of the places that we dropped by was Matamata, the site where Hobbiton from Lord Of The Rings trilogy was shot.
[Beautiful vistas all around us]
Travelling to the sheep farm site is quite a surreal experience. We drove almost an hour along the winding Buckland Road and pass vast hilly slopes to get to our destination. In some parts of the journey, our GPS seems to go offroad.
[Man... this one's fat]
Driving here feels as though we’ve been transported to Middle Earth. Along way, we stopped to enjoy the view and took some photos.
[Baaa...aa..aa..aa..]
[Flock of sheeps]
Thinking that we were lost and were almost about to call it in, we finally arrived at our destination much to our relief.
Thank God for GPS.
[The Shire's Rest]
We decided not to do the movie site tour as it would take 2 hours and the kids wouldn’t be able to enjoy it anyway. Instead, we opt for the sheep farm experience which is NZD16 per adult but free for kids aged under 5. Kinda pricey for adults considering it’s generally for kids.
You can purchase the Ring of Power here too (only NZD690.00).
[Yeah, our guide has the Ring of Power]
Liberty had a lot of fun feeding the sheeps and lambs.
[Legs up!]
Joaquin don’t seem to like them though… couldn’t stand them licking his legs.
[A master at work]
Matt showing us how sheeps are sheared.
[This is where our carpets come from]
According to Matt, the world record holder continuously sheared 850 sheeps in 1 day. That averages to about 30 seconds per sheep.
[Perfect weather, beautiful vistas]
After the tour, we drove back to Hamilton city pass Cambridge. (And no, we did not run down any Hobbits or came across any gay Grey wizard with fireworks.)
[Ordered Angus and Big Mac for dinner on our way home]
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October 27, 2009 at 9:14 pm
Bugger, wish I was there too.
October 29, 2009 at 9:11 pm
You can if you want. No need to wish.
October 29, 2009 at 5:06 pm
Hi,
I was googling and found your blog!
Just a quick questions — Is a “Work-To-Residence” visa where you first applied for PR and after interview, they decided to give you a WTR visa?
Thanks!
October 29, 2009 at 9:14 pm
Yes, that’s a WTR visa (where your PR assessment is deferred). I think it is most likely to be issued unless you can convince your visa officer otherwise.
October 30, 2009 at 4:58 am
Thanks for the reply.
Was that visa issued before you entered NZ? Or after entering NZ?
My understanding was that if one gets a WTR, a 3-month visa is issued to enter NZ and after entering, a 9-month visa is issued.
Is this correct?
October 30, 2009 at 6:32 am
It was issued before I enter NZ and yes, your understanding is correct. The 9-mth starts from the date of your entry.
October 30, 2009 at 7:17 am
So within that 9 months, if you get a job and work at least 3 months, you get a PR?
October 31, 2009 at 8:43 am
Yes but of course it’s not as simple as getting a job. Coming in as a skilled migrant, I guess it has to be a job that falls under the skillset that you initially applied under.
October 31, 2009 at 6:11 pm
Thank you for your answers! It really helped me understand.