After much hemming and hawing about catching the bus, our flatmate, Michel, informs us that he is planning to rent a car and drive to Wanaka and if we want to join we are more than welcome to.
We gather everything together, manage to fit all our luggage in the tiny Corolla and off we go. The moment we pull out onto the road I gasp loudly, the whole driving-on-the-left-side-of-the-road thing is really throwing me off. I've already almost been hit by countless cars when crossing the street, due to looking the wrong way. On the way we stop for lunch and to watch people hurtle themselves off bridges at the bungee zone.
In Wanaka we check into the "Purple Cow," poor Michel is once again stuck with us girls in a little bungalow (with its own kitchenette no less.) The weather is on and off, Michel is going on a hike so he drops us off at "Puzzling World," a "must see" tourist sport (or so I'm told.) Jordan and I pay our $18 and start off in the 3D maze. The concept seems simple enough: find the 4 towers of blue, green, yellow and red. We begin our search and pretty quickly we realize this is not going to be an easy task. Jordan comes up with a theory: maybe if we take all right turns we will eventually find our way. We begin testing the theory and within 10 minutes we have found blue, then yellow, then red. Feeling pretty confident we seek out green and find it in no time at all. An aggressive sign reminds us:
DON'T FORGET: UPON FINDING TOWERS YOU MUST FIND EXIT.
Shouldn't be a problem we think, despite the fact that moments before an American couple argue loudly and storm out of the emergency exit citing the impossibility of ever finding the correct exit. One hour. One hour we spend in that maze trying to get out. We see the exit gate, we know where it was, but none of the paths seem to lead to it. We scour every corner, over and over again, until finally, exasperated we opt to take the emergency exit for fear Puzzling World will close before we ever make it to the "Illusions Room."
The "Illusions Room" is another frightening experience in itself. It's cool enough: 3D posters and other trippy sites, not unlike a poor man's Science World. We enter the infamous tilted room and both immediately feel dizzy and nauseous. Why anyone would build a room like that is beyond me. We leave shortly after, desperate for fresh air and on our way back we decide to do the hike Michel had down earlier: Iron Mountain. The views at the top are incredible. The sky is divided perfectly with one side grey and foreboding and the other side is nothing but blue. It's still amazing to me how extreme the weather conditions are here and how quickly it changes.
Back in town and extremely famished, Jordan, Michel and I walk to the super market and load up fajita supplies. We relax for the rest of the night, I devour Gone Girl.
The next morning is Jordan's birthday. Michel sneeks out early and presents Jordan with a box of Swiss chocolates (from his home country, her favourite) with 2 candles on top that read: 31. (A bit of an inside joke as every time someone asks how old she is turning she throws out a random age.)
The two of us take our time getting dolled up and then make the 2k trek to Rippon Winery for a tour and tasting.
The vineyard is absolutely astounding. It sits above Lake Wanaka and has the most stellar views. There we sip on Pinot Noirs and Reislings until we have tried all available bottles. We each purchase a wine and head back. On the way, we accidentally stumble upon the "Wanaka Station Garden" it is immaculately maintained, full of rhododendron and rose bushes. We follow a path down to the lake and continue along the windy beach.
We take the advice of Lonely Planet and make reservations at Francesca's Italian Bistro (the name wins us both over.) The woman ahead of us is in the process of cancelling her reservation just for the time we want, we laugh at the fact that if we hadn't gotten so lost trying to find the restaurant, we never would have walked in at such a perfect time; we muse over our so-called "charmed life."
Our dinner is amazing, I have gnocchi with beef cheek ragu, Jordan has cannelloni, we drink copious amounts of wine. We round up Michel and try to find the most "happening" bar to celebrate at, but every pub we pass contain no more than 5 people at a time. We pick the busiest looking of the lot and stay for a drink and a lengthy debate on global issues. A different night than we expect, but awesome none the less.
We get up early, say goodbye to Michel and start preparing for the bus long journey to Christchurch where we plan to meet my mom's friend Aileen and find a van (and thus, independence!)
Coming up next... Christchurch! You won't wanna miss that one.
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