Arrived in Wanaka late yesterday and it is without doubt my favourite 'town' so far. It's got a holiday feel but without any tacky shops or men in St Georges shorts everywhere, just really cool little town on the lakefront looking out onto the above picture. Would have liked to stay there for a week but I want to change my flights and be in Fiji for xmas so I'll be a bit tighter on time if I do.. Stayed 2 nights and spent the time wandering round the shops, eating ice-creams and chilling out on the lakeside (oh and going to the bar in the evening and losing at pool ALL night - I can't stop playing but I seem to get worse everytime!) Loved the place.

On the way out of Wanaka we stopped @ Puzzling World where they have a maze and Illusion Rooms. We were told to look at the toilets first which were amusing but not half amusing as the chinese tourists in there - they found it HILARIOUS and there were these guys literally bent over and crying with laughter at their wives sitting on the fake toilets. It must have been a group of about 25 and people were going in to see them more than the toilets. So, so funny - still makes me laugh now (probably one of those 'you had to be there' moments)!

We went into the Illusion Rooms and there are rooms where about 15 freaky moulds of Mohter Teresa, Martin Luther King and others are following you around the room - really strange and a bit scary to be honest! Then there's one where you walk up a steep slope to get into it and the room is then on a steep slope down so you're looking at things and water appears to flow upwards and swings sit at an angle etc. I got a head ache tring to work out how we were at an angle and after a while you start to feel a bit ill! Needed some fresh air after that so we moved onto the maze, spent the first half hour just hitting dead ends and then Susanna gave up to get an ice cream and the rest of us split up. I finally managed to reach each corner but then had a nightmare finding my way out. Made it in the end after bumping into the same people time and time again as lost as you are...fun tho!