Franz Josef to Wanaka

On the North Island, our bus would drive through roads cut into the hills, but the sides of the hills grew over with thick grasses. The same thing happens on the South Island, but the vegetation is so much thicker thanks to increased rainfall that it feels downright claustrophobic at times to drive through these narrow roads that almost feel like grass tunnels.

The drive from Franz Josef was interesting, as we passed over some mountain ranges and Allen pointed out how within a matter of minutes of cresting the highest peak, the vegetation changed completely. We stopped a number of times throughout the day to go on short walks along the bus route: Lake Matheson, Blue Pools, and a bunch of little waterfalls.

We arrived in Wanaka after driving around the huge, beautiful lakes of Wanaka and Hawea. Chantal and I opted to go to Puzzling World, which was made by a guy named Stuart Landsborough who loved puzzles and optical illusions so much that he made his living off of them. The complex has a huge maze (that we couldn't even finish-there's 1.5 km of passage ways!), a room full of famous 3D "following" faces, and an "Ames Room" where the lines of the floor and ceiling make the room seem normal, but really one side is much shorter than the other so you are a giant while your friend is dwarfed in the opposite corner. They used the technique to film Lord of the Rings with the hobbits.


After Puzzling World, we headed to Wanaka townsite. It is a beautiful little mountain town that sits along the base of Lake Wanaka with huge mountains surrounding it. It's a ski town in the winter, but we were there on a gorgeous summer evening. A bunch of Magic Bus members got together and decided to have a group Barbeque. Everyone bought something for the dinner, then we cooked up a delicious dinner with steak, grilled Portobello mushrooms, potatoes, and salad. We finished the meal off with a classic Kiwi desert- Hokey Pokey ice cream. Since the weather was so amazing, we were able to eat outside in the fresh mountain air. I didn't really see anything else in Wanaka other than the grocery store and the Lakefront, but that was fine. People always talk about how fantastic it is to meet and make the briefest of connections with people while you travel. This was one of those evenings. I was very much alive with energies of my fellow travellers.