November 27 - New Zealand: Wanaka (South Island)
WE ARE SO SICK OF THIS RAIN!!!!!
For God's sake. Will it ever stop?!?!? We were so happy that everything had dried from our climb yesterday, but then so much got wet again when we loaded up the car. This country is beautiful, but horribly rainy. I would give anything to see the sun again.
Fox Glacier
Our next major stop is Milford Sound, which is a good 11 hours away. So we drove to Wanaka today and were on the road for about 6 hours. Before we left the glacier area, we stopped to see the Fox Glacier. We walked down a path that said "5 Minutes to Fox Glacier Viewpoint". 10 minutes later, we started to wonder what we'd missed. So we walked a little further and figured that we were on the 40 minute path instead of the 5 minute path. We turned around after walking on a huge suspension bridge and walked back. On our way to the car, we found the "5 Minute" place which was basically an unmarked hole in the trees. But it made for a nice picture:
Fox Glacier
Drive to Wanaka
The drive was a lovely one, although wet (of course). We stopped for lunch at a "scenic spot" which didn't have much scenery because of the rain and fog. We could see a bit of the ocean, but not much. We sat in the car and ate our leftover pasta. When we looked behind us, we saw an entire line of cars doing the exact same thing - eating lunch in their cars. I stepped out briefly to throw our rubbish in the trash bin, and came back completely soaked. The best way I can describe it is having been "pelted" by the rain. It actually hurt!
What's that Bright Thing?
As we got closer to Wanaka, we entered into the "Lake Region" of the South Island. It's absolutely beautiful and as we drove by Lake Hawae the weather actually started to dry up a bit. We eventually found ourselves on dry road, and opened up the car windows to smell the wildflowers. And then this weird thing came out of the sky.
Me: "What's that bright thing?"
Jon: "Where?"
Me: "Up there. In the sky. Is that a UFO?"
Jon: "I think it's called the sun."
Me: "Is THAT what it is? Well, it's definitely bright!"
Better than a UFO. Very exciting.
Puzzling World
Just outside Wanaka is a place called Puzzling World. This is a big fun center with games and puzzles and the world's first two-story labyrinth. We went in and enjoyed some of the holograms and games they had displayed around the building. One of the first rooms we went into was built on a 30-degree slope. The room had all sorts of illusions, such as a pool table whose balls rolled uphill, an uphill waterfall, and other fun stuff. So on top of feeling a big nauseous from walking on a slant, we got to work our minds through the illusions.
Thankful for the respite in the rain, we made a go at the labyrinth. The instructions for the maze said that we were supposed to find our way to each of the four towers - red, blue, green, and yellow. Each tower was in an opposite corner of the maze. The labyrinth has 1.5 kilometers of confusing passages, and - according to a sign - most people walk between 3-5 kilometers trying to find their way out. It takes between 30 - 90 minutes to finish the maze, but "there are emergency exits for those people with neither the time nor the patience". Jon started the timer on his watch and off we went. We thought we had a pretty good grasp of it when we approached the entrance to the Yellow Tower. But when we rounded the corner to enter the tower, a sign said, "No this is not the right corner." Damn!
We got the hang of it all right, though. The bridges (second levels) threw things off a bit, because they usually put us in the opposite direction of where we wanted to be. But in the end we realized that the quickest way to get to a place was to go the longest way around. Here's what the labyrinth looked like:
This is only about 40% of it!
On parts of the bridges, there were signs saying, "Climbing over the rail is for Cheats Only!", and "Please don't direct people, it spoils the fun for everyone." Labyrinth etiquette. Who knew?
After we had made it to all four towers, Jon and I got a bit split up. He thought he knew the right way and I decided he was going the wrong way. So we split and - when I found the exit - I called out to Jon and said, "I'll see you in the cafe!". I made it out in 25 minutes. Jon made it out in 28 minutes, but had to crawl under one of the walls to do it. CHEAT!
Then we made our way into Wanaka, where we found a supermarket and a campsite. Lake Wanaka is a beautiful lake, and is even more lovely because it wasn't raining. Thank god. This is the view from outside our tent:
Lake Wanaka - view from our tent
We cooked dinner (cheeseburgers and potatoes) and settled in to watch some quality Kiwi television and to do some journal writing in the communal lounge. There was an Australian couple there with a 9-month old boy named Benjamin. So we played with Ben for a while and watched him crawl around. At 10:30, we crawled into the tent to sleep.
The rain started 2 minutes after we zipped up our sleeping bags.