Puzzling rain?! Day 5 to Te Anau


 

As implied yesterday, an early morning call was made to confirm that the weather forecast would in fact postpone our adventure. This resulted in a quick change of plans, as Jane and I found a nice coffee spot and talked about the day or two ahead, and complained about our previous night's sleep.  

Once back in the room, we let the kids sleep a bit longer (as we were no longer on such a timebound schedule) and packed everything up. Off to Puzzling World, Wanaka we went and began our adventure into weirdness. Jane and I had different memories of this place, but after umming and ahhing we decided that we would all enjoy ourselves - and we were right! There is a lot of fun for adults and children alike, with lots of optical illusions and thought puzzles and interesting and clever art. Even the toilets were not immune to the strangeness. Puzzling World is famous for its maze - which didn't disappoint. After selecting the difficult version, we all decided that we would stick together, and so ensued a lot of confused running and backtracking. After finding the final tower, Jane and Eliza decided that the maze was completed for them and so left; while the boys continued for another twenty minutes just trying to find the proper exit.

All the same size
Some big ones and some little ones




On a lean




Happy at the first tower

Janie getting bored by the last one

The boys showing off that they are, indeed, better

Before going for lunch, we had thevisited the Mt Aspiring Vistor's Centre and had the obligatory Hospice Shop visit - both of which were unsuccessful. Our first cafe stop was also unsuccessful; with both boys deciding that the menu was too 'woke', and not to their taste? (Whatever that means, but I think it involved kale). By this stage, the weather was just starting to turn, with the wind picking up and a steady drizzle starting. We settled into the Water Bar and ordered our lunch; burgers for the kids, and salads for the parents. My calamari salad was delicious. 

The rain was becoming a lot more persistent by this point, and we needed to get moving to make good time to Te Anau. Ordinarily, the drive over the Crown Range between Wanaka and Tahuna | Queenstown is a stunning drive, but the visibility was minimal and the rain pouring down. There was certainly some nervousness by other drivers, and this was not helped by the observance of a serious-looking car accident prior to hitting the range. Jane was happy with the slower speeds around the hairpin bends, while the boys kept droning on about how Mad Mike had once drifted down the southern side of the Crown Range. 

The road had several of these signs. Just after one of them was a very recently crashed car.

Not much to see but clouds
The hairpins

A toilet stop was required after that part of the journey, so we pulled into the Queenstown Market mall and also accesed some snacks in the car to pull us through. There was brief talk about spending some time in Queenstown, but most of us were just keen to get into our next place for the night. The drive to Te Anau was pretty uneventful. There was lots of loud singing and snacks being eaten and the weather slowly cleared as we got further south. 

Rain coat on, ready for action
Raincoat on, ready for chilling

It was great to get to Te Anau and check into our cottage accommodation, which is very comfortable. Washing has been done, shopping done and dinner cooked (thanks Eliza) and eaten. Definitely, a quieter day today, so we're looking forward to our trip into Milford Sound tomorrow.

The sunset was 9:38pm - a full hour after Auckland's

Not as pretty as the West Coast, but still cool
It's windy for sure
And kids...
...will...
...have fun.
Adults will stay warm in the car
Moody, cloudy Te Anau - good night

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