Wanaka - hometown for the wealthy

One of the illusion rooms in Puzzle World

Jo-Ann and Rina in front of Puzzle World, Wanaka

The leaning clock tower at Puzzle World

The outdoor maze

Rina, Jo-Ann and Winnie by the lake with Wanaka town centre in the background

On our last visit to Queenstown, I decided to take an hour detour and take a tour of Wanaka as we have never been there. Always heard that only the rich can afford to live there and apparently there are lots of American retirees who had settled down there. My first impression of the tiny lakeside town centre was that the architecture really reminds me of suburban USA.

I think the main attraction for tourists to Wanaka is Puzzle World where you can go and walk through an outdoor maze, an indoor area with illusion rooms or just sit down, have some snacks and try the puzzles for yourself and decide if you want to buy them. It is quite a good marketing ploy to let visitors try out as it gets people hooked and some people spend a long time day or bring their kids there to play the puzzles for free. There were a lot of wonderful wooden puzzles plus others made of other materials. My daughter and her friends really enjoyed their visit there. So if you are in Wanaka area, you may want to visit and give yourself at least an hour or more if you are a puzzle king or queen!