We woke to another sunny and clear day. After breakfast we headed off to a place called Puzzling World. This was a building that had a number of optical illusions, sloping rooms, snooker balls that roll uphill etc. It was pretty interesting and mind challenging. Outside was a 3D maze, the object being to go through the maze and climb each of the four towers in the corners. We managed to get to more than 1 and less than 4 of the towers before frustration set in. Must admit it was an excellently planned maze!
The Maze
After the maze we headed off to a quilt store where Lyn found a quilt kit that depicted NZ themes in its pattern. Now my navigator is happy!
Yesterday we crossed part of the Southern Alps on the lowest of the trans-Alpine crossings routes, today we crossed another part of the Alps on the highest of the routes, climbing up NZ’s highest paved road to a height of 1083 metres, before dropping down into Queenstown.
View From the Passenger Seat
Once settled into the hotel I decided to try and change some plans I made yesterday. I had originally planned to try and go hang-gliding tomorrow, but the forecast was a bit iffy so I called the company and switched the flight to this afternoon. We went into town and met up with the pilot who drove us up to the ski fields and the launch point. We spent a fair bit of time there just waiting as the wind was just on the limits for launching.
After 45 minutes or so it was declared safe to fly. I was “poured” into a flight suit and harness while the pilot “built” the hang-glider.
Some Assembly Required
Once the glider was assembled it was time for a briefing, then we moved to the launch point. After a short run we were flying.
View from Launch Point
It Flys
Once airborne we had about a 12 minute flight down to the landing zone. It was a great experience gliding gently above the trees, I even got to fly it for a short while. One tip though, don’t ask the pilot questions like “can this recover safely from a stall?” The answer, as demonstrated 3 times, is yes!
We finished off the day with a pub meal in one of the downtown pubs. Lyn got her lamb fix and I re-acquainted my self with beef wellington.
Time to relax now