Wanaka

We headed further south to a small lake and mountainside resort town called Wanaka. It was our first visit to a ski resort in New Zealand. Unfortunately for the skiers and snowboarders, despite being over a week into the winter season there was no snow. Neither was there any likely in the near future. This led to a lot of people walking around the place looking 'glum'. We had a night in a camp site, our pitch was right beside a beautiful river. We did a long hike along the river which soon turned into some pretty fast moving rapids. It's adrenaline sports country out here. There's plenty of thrill seeking activities to take part in, if you have the spare cash; Skiing, snowboarding (when they have snow), white water rafting, bungee jumping, canyon swinging, power boat racing, downhill mountain biking, caving, sky diving and more. We were happy to just take in the surroundings. We did treat ourselves to puzzling world on the way out of town though. It was a mini theme park including a big maze and illusion rooms. We particularly enjoyed the hobbit illusion, where you go into a room, at one side you look very tiny and at the other you appear to be huge. (sorry no pics at the moment, will add them later when internet speed is better).