New Zealand: Wanaka (still)

We have a lovely low-key day in Wanaka. We start out at Stuart Landsborough’s Puzzling World, which has a timber labyrinth (complete with some two story passages, which make it “3D”) and a set of Illusion Rooms. The maze is a fun (and exceedingly goofy) way to kill some time. Naturally, since we are both computer scientists, we walk the maze in an organized fashion by adhering to the “right hand rule”. Maybe this took some of the fun out of it.

The illusion rooms are legitimately interesting. These include the usual complement of holograms and painted illusions, but also a “Hall of Following Faces”, which has rows and rows of concave famous faces that appear to follow you around the room. It has a really nifty (and creepy) visual effect; it reminded me somehow of the architect’s room in Matrix Revolutions.

There are also a couple of rooms set at a 45 degree angle that really effectively screw with your sense of balance. We, and everyone else in the exhibit, spend much time giggling and stumbling, watching water and pool balls (and a chair ride!) seem to run uphill.

Finally, we get to play with one of those tilted perspective rooms that make it look like Dave is teeny and I am very, very tall. Like Godzilla. I find this very satisfying.

We spend the afternoon on a nice long walk around the lake, trying to muster up some appreciation for the spectacular scenery.

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