After a pretty decent sleep we began our morning by getting our luggage packed to leave for the next destination on our road trip. We had a couple more things to do in Wanaka before leaving though. The first of those things was get breakfast. We wandered down the road back to the same area we had dinner at the night before for Curbside Coffee & Bagels. We got a couple of bagels – a PB&J bagel and cream cheese and jam bagel. Both were delicious but the cream cheese and jam bagel was the winning combination. It was so yummy. Ronnie had a coffee too and said this one was by far the best coffee he has had in NZ so far. Aimee had an iced chocolate which turned out to be more like choccy milk with ice in it but even on a chilly morning she said it went really well with the bagel.

After breakfast we walked back up to the hotel to pack up the car and check out. We then headed out to Puzzling World which is an exhibition of optical illusions that also had a giant maze. We started with the illusion rooms. There were a lot of illusions there but the most noteworthy one is the tilted room. It felt so steep to walk up and in it there was a pool table tilted and you expect the ball to roll down it but it rolls up! There was also a room of following faces and an Ames room which makes you look tiny or like a giant depending on where you stand.

After the illusions room we went to do the giant maze. The objective of the maze is to make it to the four coloured towers in each corner and then find the finish. We found the towers quite quickly but we ran into a few dead ends on our search for the finish. Apparently most people walk an average on 3 – 5 kilometres when attempting the maze. We finally found the finish and we left to drive down to Lake Wanaka to kill time before lunch and get take in our final views.

Once it was a more lunch appropriate time we headed to Cardrona Hotel. There were a few fires in the mountains so when we got there it was quite smoky. Cardrona Hotel is a historic hotel and it was very popular especially on such a beautiful day. We were still a little early for lunch so we grabbed a drink, went out into the sunny beer garden and found a table in a glass house to relax. The vibes were really nice. When it was finally time for lunch we ordered a lamb burger, tartiflette and bao with beef. The tartiflette was like a potato bake and it was really tasty. The bao were really nice for a pub lunch and the burger was good. The chips that came with it were especially good.

Once we were done with the lunch we began our drive to Te Anau back via the same crazy road to Queenstown. We stopped in at Queenstown to grab a couple more items at the shops and a coffee then continued on to Te Anau. The drive was about 2 hours from Queenstown and the views were epic the entire time. It felt like quite a long drive though.

When we finally arrived in Te Anau we made our way straight to our accommodation for the night. We’re at a very modern and well setup Airbnb for a couple of nights. We even have a private hot tub to use as we please.

After getting our stuff inside we went down to a jetty with a picturesque backdrop and a had bit of a stroll around the lake. We then headed back to our accommodation to decide on dinner. Our original plan wasn’t doable because the place we wanted to go is temporarily closed so we just went with takeaway Chinese from Ming Garden. We got beef flat rice noodles, peanut chicken and spring rolls. We ordered the smaller sizes of the meals but it was still about double what we’d get at home for the same order. We ate it back at our Airbnb and it was all very nice and satisfying.

After dinner we played a card game and then had showers to then hop in the hot tub. It was so nice and relaxing. We’ve both been a little sore from the big days so it felt like a much needed massage. We will definitely be back in there tomorrow night.

We’re now settled in for the night watching tv looking forward to perhaps the most epic views we might get this whole trip tomorrow.

Spending:
Coffee and Bagels – $25
Puzzling World – $44
Cardrona Hotel – $70
Toiletries – $54
Coffee – $5
Fuel – $70
Dinner – $42
Snacks – $30
Total – $340

Much love,
Ronnie & Aimee