A Puzzling Time in Wanaka

The town of Wanaka sits on the shore of Lake Wanaka and is surrounded by mountains making for a peaceful and relaxing setting. Not as lively as Queenstown Wanaka still offers a good few amenities including restaurants,  bars and shops. It also provides easy access to lakes and mountains being the gateway to the Mount Aspiring National Park. Our drive took us over the Crown Range via a series of hair pin bends until we passed the much photographed Cardrona Hotel. I added a few more photos to the memory card!

We arrived mid morning and sat outside a bakery in warm sunshine with a coffee and doughnut...an essential dietary choice when contemplating a walk! Suitably refreshed we wandered around town and then out along the shoreline towards the west returning by the same route after a mile or so.

We  then chose a campsite on the edge of town, (an old style Kiwi campsite) with lake views and only 10 minutes walk into town and after lunch headed off to explore the other shoreline and do another walk. I'd read about Diamond Lake, a small mirror surfaced lake up in the hills and found the signs and a parking area. It was a warm afternoon so the climb uphill involved a bit of effort but the lake was as still and beautiful as described.  We walked around the lake surrounded by birdsong, stopping to take photos before taking the route back downhill. 

A fantail displaying for us at Diamond Lake

Diamond Lake

The next day was Mrs B's birthday...so I took her to a maze..and reassured her I wasn't trying to lose her. Just on the edge of Wanaka is a long standing attraction called Puzzle World. It has a giant, multi level maze. Once you enter the challenge is to find all four corners and then return to the exit. This is harder than it sounds as in order to get from one part of the maze to another you have to climb a level, use upper walkways and footbridges all of which are riddled with intricate one way systems. There are dead ends and even the corner towers can be tricky to find. We raced around at the start and successfully found all four corners in 20 minutes so felt pretty chuffed. Finding the exit however was a bit more challenging...and took another hour. Mrs B. found the exit...I think it was her unerring sense of where the gift shop was located that helped! After a break we went into the illusion rooms..stuffed full of amazing visual trickery, holograms and puzzles. Everything was done with a good dash of fun and we both went around with smiles on our faces.

Part of the amazing maze.

Mrs B. after her breakfast porridge

After lunch we walked the eastern shore of Lake Wanaka..about a 4 mile round trip and then made our way to the best cinema in the world. Cinema Paradiso is a fantastic independent cinema. Film goers are able to order meals for the intermission (all films have one) and we placed our orders and took our seat..which happened to be inside an old car. There were lots of comfy seats..including sofas. We watched '12 Years A Slave'..enjoyed the freshly cooked food at the intermission and their home made ice cream. You can take a glass of wine or a beer in too..Cinema Paradiso is just perfect. (the film was pretty good too..)

Cinema Paradiso seat...not a drive in movie!

Wanaka had been a good place for a few birthday treats but our time in New Zealand was passing quickly now so it was time to move on again. We were headed for the wild West Coast and hoped to get close to a glacier or two.