The best cinema in the world

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October 28 - 31

Aside from the beautiful lake Wanaka is home to the best cinema ever, Puzzling World and Canadian country singer Shania Twain. We didn't see Shania but experienced all the rest.

While in town we treated ourselves to a double room at Wanaka Bakpakas and enjoyed not being woken by rustling carrier bags at 7am and using the real towels that came with the room. The chamois leather-like travelling towels are getting a bit tiresome. It was good to have our own space when we weren't out and about.

Puzzling World is like a playground for adults. There is a huge two-level maze with four corner towers that you need to find before making your way back to the start. We managed to do it in 35 minutes which wasn't bad. Although Simon did try to cheat by looking over the wooden walls to see which way to go - he just can't bear getting lost. There are a lot of mind-bending illusions at Puzzling World including a gallery of holographic pictures, a room where the faces of historic figures appear to follow you and an Ames room which messes with perception to make you appear as either a midget or a giant. It's a lot of fun. The toilet is also an attraction being as there is a life-size mural of a Roman toilet scene on one wall which looks real. We also had a lot of fun trying to get our heads straight in the tilted house which is sloped at an angle of 15 degrees and has a pool table on which the balls appear to roll uphill and other gravity-defying attractions. We spent an hour of so in the cafe which has stacks of wooden puzzles that we, shamefully, could not manage to complete.

We took a walk around part of Lake Wanaka which is spectacular - pretty much all the scenery over here is stunning. The water is so clear and on the other side of the lake we could see snow-capped mountains as we walked through pine tree forests. It was very peaceful and the only sounds, aside from birds, were from the ride on mowers being used to mow the vast lawns of the huge houses around the lake.

My favourite place in Wanaka was the cinema. The Paradiso is pretty much perfect. The seating is made up of sofas and there's even an old VW Beetle that you can sit in to watch the film. Food can be ordered to eat before or during the film or at the interval. Yes that's right, there is an interval. But instead of teenagers coming in with over-priced ice creams hanging from their necks you can buy hot, freshly baked cookies. The chocolate chips in these are still melting when you bite into them, delicious. If comfy sofas and freshly baked cookies aren't enough you can also buy alcohol to take in. It felt so decadent to be watching a film while sprawled on a sofa enjoying a few G&Ts and munching moist cookies, I don't think I'll ever be able to go to The Showcase again.

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Photos

Puzzling World
This ride appeared to defy gravity

Comments

[prabhat chatterjee]

nice
mind blowing.