Fun in Wanaka

To be honest, Wanaka wasn't our favorite town. It was dry, dusty, crowded, and I developed a bad cough there. But just outside town was the best value campground we've seen during our entire time here in New Zealand, which made this a good place to recharge and reorganize...

(Just a sidenote: If you ever travel to New Zealand, we highly recommend camping at the Luggate Cricket Club. At $5/person (including hot showers and a charging station), it can't be beat!)

Even though we weren't huge fans of Wanaka, that didn't mean we couldn't find ways to have fun there! There were a few gems to be found in this dusty town...

The first of these is Puzzling World:

As soon as you pull up to this place, you can't help seeing (and playing with) this:

Once you get inside, you are met with puzzles and games designed to challenge and tease your brain. To the right are the “Illusion Rooms” which include:

The “Tilted House”:

The “Hall of Following Faces”:

The “Ames Illusion Room”:

The “SculptIllusion Gallery”:

There is also a Hollogram Hall, and if you use the toilet, you are greeted by Roman-style ablutions:

No, you don't actually go here...

But I believe the main attraction here is “The Great Maze”:

This maze makes you feel like a rat in a science lab. It can be pretty frustrating at times, but a lot of fun :)

There are two challenges to choose from:

We went with the difficult challenge, which took us about an hour. Starting off together, we wove our way around and got lost pretty quickly. Eventually, we went our separate ways and started competing against one another. Andy was able to find the green and blue corners first and I was able to find yellow and red.

Another gem we found in Wanaka is Cinema Paradiso, where we watched “Silver Linings Playbook.” It doesn't look like much on the outside, but is definitely one of the most unique movie theaters we've ever been to. First of all, there is only one room for movie showings, so different movies are shown everyday. Secondly, there is an intermission in the middle of the movie. Lights go out and guests are allowed to stretch their legs, use the toilet, and purchase freshly baked chocolate chip cookies! Thirdly, they sell homemade ice cream here and one of the flavors is “fish n chips.” Yes, really.

But what really makes this theater unique is the seating. From cars, to comfy couches and airplane seats, you can take your pick as to what kind of movie experience you want to have. Andy and I went with one of the couches up front (SO comfortable) so it felt like we were chilling at home. But as you can see, you can pretend like you're at a drive-in, on a plane, or simply at the movies:

The cherry on top is the message to patrons urging them to silence their cell phones:

Please silence your cell phones. If you don't, we have an elephant trained to urinate on your head.