This morning we woke up, packed, and checked out before heading to our next destination. You wouldn't think it, but driving the New Zealand countryside can be a pretty hair-raising experience! We were just a few km out of the city (of Queenstown) when the roads started getting steeper and more windy. They offered some spectacular views, though, and we stopped to admire them for a bit at one of the beautiful overlooks.
On the way to Wanaka, we passed by/through a small town called Cardrona. The roads wound through the smaller mountains (larger hills), which were really pretty to look at. Cardrona looked like it didn't have much to offer (I thought America had small towns - then I went to New Zealand), but it did have a few historic buildings, including what looked like an old schoolhouse/church. I would've liked to take a closer look, but we were preoccupied with getting to our next stop. We also saw a lot of monster trucks parked in random places in Cardrona. Apparently that's one of the things to do there.
When we got to Wanaka we walked around a bit and checked into our Top 10 (LOVE those places!) We rested for a bit in our nice little private room (reminded me of camping in the States, especially KOA's - I probably said that already). After a good, long rest, we went to one of the main attractions of the city: Puzzling World.
Puzzling World is a fun, eccentric little place dedicated to such things as optical illusions and playing with the mind. It was FANTASTIC! If I could take my family anywhere in New Zealand, I would want to take them here. :) There are 4 main rooms, plus a little gift shop/entrance hall and some outdoor things.
The first room is just the entrance hall. It's free to go in and play, and there are several tables set up with "puzzling" items, such as Rubik's cubes and the like. The ceiling of this room is a conglomeration of several mirrors, creating a kaleidoscope effect when you look up. I would've liked to spend an hour or more just playing around there! The other rooms have a small fee, but are worth it.
From the entrance, you go into a room full of holograms. There were some really neat ones! My favorite was a hologram of one of M. C. Escher's paintings (of a lizard crawling on his desk). From there, you walk through a small hall that has a few optical illusions painted on the walls, and then you enter the "Hall of Faces". The walls are covered with carved faces that are made in such a way that any way you move, it looks like the faces are following you. They had such familiar faces as Beethoven, Mother Theresa, Albert Einstein and Nelson Mandela.
After the Hall of Faces, you moved into what is known as the "Ames Room". This is a special room designed in such a way that if one person stands on one side, they look big, and if someone stands on the other side, they look small. This technique is used very often in movies, most notably in Lord of the Rings. I also remember watching a movie called "Babes in Toyland" when I was a child, and it used the same technique. It was really cool, because it really worked! :)
After that, we went into the "Slanted/Tilted Room". The room is built with the floor slanted at a 15 degree angle. It was CRAZY! As soon as you walked in, you felt like you were going to fall down! I even had to sit down for a minute, to let my head adjust. :) It really messed with your mind because your perception is completely altered. Inside were some more fun things, such as a pool table that was slanted so that it looked like the balls were rolling up hill, a fountain where the water looked like it was flowing uphill, and a chair that looked like it was sliding towards the ceiling. Just walking around was a real trip! I loved it though, it was so much fun! :)
The bathrooms were another fun feature. The guys and girls go in different sides, of course, but come into the same room! In front of the real bathrooms is a large room with replicas of Roman-style toilets, complete with a painting on the wall of the proper way to use said toilets. (not as bad as you think!) Inside, the bathrooms were also fun. The toilet seats and covers were made of clear plastic that had random items inside.
The main attraction outside was the Great Maze! According to the designer of this little attraction (Stuart Landsborough), it was not meant to be the most difficult maze in the world, but is meant to be the most enjoyable. :) There are four corners, each with its own tower, and the challenge is to make it to all four corners. There are also some stairs and bridges, making it even more exciting.
Outside of the building there is also a fun sculpture called the "Leaning Tower of Wanaka", complete with a clock that runs backwards. My one regret about Puzzling World was that we went too late in the day to enjoy it longer.
After visiting Puzzling World, we hiked around the lake (Lake Wanaka) to a place that was supposed to have a pretty little waterfall. Alas, we didn't find the waterfall (I doubt its existence), but we did have a nice walk. Lots of vineyards on the walk - I was reminded of Tuscany (only what I've heard of the place - I haven't actually been there).
By then it was almost night time, and we barely made it back to the car before it got dark. It was a little too cloudy to see the stars, unfortunately, but all in all a good day. :)These are pictures of Lake Wanaka - some of my favorite pictures from the entire trip:
1 comment:
Oh my goodness! I totally forgot about this - there used to be a giant maze in southern IN, and every month or so they'd change it! (The walls were made of a very tough man-made material, and it could be changed by attaching it to different metal poles.)
We would go from time to time. Lots of fun getting lost. We would race each other, too. There was a wall with top times, several under 5 minutes!! Amazing...
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