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Published: March 13th 2009
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10th March 2009 - PUZZLING WORLD & MOUNT IRON!!!
I woke up early but had slept well during the night which made a change. After laying wide awake in bed for an hour I got up and took myself for breakfast. Still the best meal of the day! I sat around in the dining area which looked out onto the lake for a good while chatting to other travellers and reading my book. It was nice not to have to rush to get ready or be anywhere specific! A nice laid back morning…sweet as!!
Nat was hoping to do a skydive this morning but it got cancelled and so we took ourselves off to Puzzling World. Impressive icon outside called ‘The Leaning Tower of Wanaka’. A clock tower with a 53 degree lean making the leaning tower of Piza look pathetic!! Provided some good photo opportunities!! We then went inside and bought the full combo ticket for both the ‘Great Maze’ and the ‘Illusion Rooms.’
We started our adventure in ‘The Great Maze’!! It was built in 1973 and at fist I was a bit disappointed that it wasn’t a hedge maze like in Harry Potter. Instead it was
made out of wooden boards and stairs which was spread out over 2 levels. You had to get to each corner (each one being a different colour and then to the exit! It looked pretty sinple. We found the 1st 3 corners in around 10 minutes…to easy! The last corner wasn’t quite as simple though…took us ages and we almost got dizzy from going around in circles so much! We kept passing the same signs over and over! So frustrating! We eventually found the green and final corner…woo!! Now time to find our way out which proved the most difficult task for us! There were emergency exits along the way for those who wanted to cheat but we stuck to it. There were some crazy people running about all over and we all must have passed one another at least a dozen times. The average person walks around 3km whilst in the maze…I think Nat and I tripled that figure before eventually finding the end! Maze complete!
Our next stop were the toilets which weren’t just your average toilet!! Lets just say the privacy wasn’t the best and you got to know the person on the toilet next to
you a little too well!! Following our toilet break we went for lunch in the café. I had a scrummy tuna sandwich and Nat had a pie. We ate whilst we attempted some of the puzzles set out on all the tables. We could have been there for hours there were so many to do!!
After lunch we headed for the illusion rooms. There were hologram screens where depending upon where you stood a blank screen changed to a 3D image. So cool! We also checked out the Hall of Following Faces! This room did exactly what it said on the tin…..faces followed you everywhere even though in reality they didn’t really move at all. It wasn’t just like Mona Lisa where the eyes follow you…the whole face literally turned around and watched you wherever you went. A little off putting but very clever!
Next up was a crazy room and one of my favourites. The floor was tilted and it threw everything off. Water seemed to run uphill defying gravity, snooker balls went uphill and I even had a go on a stairlift that of course travelled uphill. Maybe I can be the next Thora Hird!! I
could not get to grips with this room…fab illusion!!
Finally we headed into the Ames room where at one end you seemed to become a giant and at the other end a dwarf whilst the room appeared to be perfectly normal. Looked really funny and for the first time ever I was shorter than Nat! Loved it!! Puzzling World was sweet as and good value!!
Once we were all puzzled out we headed back to the hostel for some chill out time and a warm. Very cold and windy outside so nice to get in and cosy! Nat’s attempt at doing her skydive was cancelled again due to the weather and so we went for walk up Mount Iron to fill the afternoon. Only a small mountain at 549m high but the views over Lake Wanaka were nice from the top. Meant I could also tick another box on my ‘done’ list as had now walked to the peak of a mountain (albeit a little one)!! It only took around 90 minutes in total but was a nice walk. Nothing like a brisk walk and bitter wind to wake you up!!
Back at the hostel we spent
the evening having tea and using the internet before heading to bed. I really like Wanaka and was looking forward to spending another day here!!
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