The strangest towns in New Zealand
- Sarah
- Apr 6, 2015
- 2 min read
New Zealand is a country of beautiful coastlines, exotic plant life and, let's face it, some of the strangest small towns ever. Here is my run down of the North Island's weirdest, wackiest & most bizarre little towns.
Barmyest buildings: Tirau
Tirau, located in the Waikato region, is famous for its buildings made of corrugated iron; not just any old buildings, they're shaped like animals. There's an adorable sheep, a panting doggy and a biblical shepherd. There used to be a praying mantis too, which would have been awesome to see but I was informed by a local it had been dismantled & moved to another town. Maybe one day I'll track him down.
Ultra Kiwiana: Te Puke
The town of Te Puke in the Bay of Plenty is pretty much your average Kiwi town, until you drive to the outskirts & realise it is the most Kiwi town in all of New Zealand. The giant kiwifruit outside the Kiwi360 farm/tourist attraction Features on 100s of postcards & you can go on a little tour around the farm which I didn't bother with as the place was swarming with school kids.
Best for Hobbitses: Matamata
In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit, and that hole apparently is in the Waikato. If you're a massive LOTR fan Matamata is where you go to take the rather pricey set tour but for those with just a passing interest like myself the town's tourist information centre is decorated like a hobbit hole, complete with this rather creepy Golem statue so you can still get a hobbit fix. Plus the surrounding countryside is all little rolling hills so it's easy to pretend you're in the Shire.
Lemony & “world famous”: Paeroa
Paeroa in the Thames valley is home of “World famous in New Zealand” beverage L&P. The town sports not one but two giant bottles of the super bubbly lemon drink. There's even a cafe to buy L&P flavoured ice cream
Most Retrotastic: Napier
On the sunny Hawkes Bay coast sits Napier, the town that time forgot. After a catastrophic earthquake in the 1930s the town was rebuilt in the art deco style. The town centre is full of beautifully preserved buildings not to mention the long promenade on Marine Parade which houses this lovely bronze statue of the legendary Pania of the reef.
Okay maybe this one is more quirky than crazy but it is definitely out of the ordinary.
(P.S. I do change my clothes occasionally, I just happened to visit three of these towns on the same day!)
So there we have it, some of the North Island’s weirdest little towns. An extra shout out goes to Waihi the town with the giant hole, the Coromandel's Hot Water Beach & the pongiest city ever, Rotorua.
Who else has visited New Zealand's quirky small towns? Any more that I've missed?
