Having a herd of cows in your main street is not necesarily a bad thing.
Morrinsville has just that; 45 cows have moved into town. They're life-sized, fibreglass scultpures all painted by artists and dotted on the main street, on street corners and in front of businesses and public buildings.
And people are flocking to Morrinsville to see them.
Herd of Cows project lead, Nicki Robb says the local information centre is now opening seven days a week to cater for visitors keen to pick up a trail map and explore the bovine exhibits.
She says the idea was to put Morrinsville on the map.
"Morrinsville doesn't have any natural significant features; no great hills or mountains or Hobbiton....but we do have a wonderful town that really is based around our dairying industry."
She says the Herd of Cows was a perfect way to attract peole to the town and showcase its growing arts culture and dairy farming heritage.
Many of the cows have been sponsored by local businesses or are memorials to long standing Morninville families.
She says public repsonse to the cows has been huge. "We want to put smiles on the faces of both four year olds and 84 years olds...and you can see that . You can see people walking down the road and they see a cow and their faces light up..."
