Puzzling World, New Zealand's Unique Puzzling and Illusion Museum
Ranked #1,171 in Local, #111,190 overall
Puzzling World in Wanaka Is a Must See for Visitors to New Zealand's South Island
When you first see the 'Leaning Tower of Wanaka' greeting you to Stuart Landsborough's Puzzling World, you know you are in for a unique experience specializing in "puzzling eccentricity." The fun starts before you even enter, as this New Zealand clock has been moving backwards since the new millennium. Even more interesting is the tower itself, as it balances on one corner at 53 degrees.
Inside Puzzling World you will find possibly the world's best puzzling and illusion museum along with the world's first "modern-styled" human maze, a cafe with free access to puzzles, and even a puzzling gift shop. A great New Zealand tourist spot, Puzzling World is also often frequented by local Wanaka residents or visitors from other areas of New Zealand. We visit a couple of times each season just to do the human maze.
All photos used on the page copyright 2009 Albom Design
Sarah Learns About the Clock
Enter the Illusion Rooms
When you first enter the illusion rooms you see amazing holograms, one after the next. Then you enter a room of optical illusions followed by the hall of faces - which appear to be following you no matter which way you go. There is a video of this room attached just below. Next you come to the shrinking room, which is captured in another short video clip below.
Next you come to the tilted house. Probably the most photographed feature is the steps, on which you stand straight, and appear leaning. Melissa demonstrates in the photo to the right. In this room there is a chair on a track, which upon release you slide uphill (see the video below). The room is actually tilted at 15 degrees, but the disorientation is amazing. I get dizzy when I first enter the room and always have to hold on to the rails. The children, however, really enjoy it.
A Few of the Illusions
We didn't bring our video camera, but fortunately other people have, and they posted their videos on youtube. There were many to choose from, I selected videos which were both short and I felt did a good job demonstrating the illusion.
One of My Favourite Illusions Which Hangs at Puzzling World
Have You Ever Used a Roman Toilet?
If a picture is worth 1,000 words, I think this one speaks for itself. If you look closely you will see that my daughter and her two friends are in the foreground, and it is a wall mural in the background, but very nicely done!
These toilets are for show, there are modern toilets for use, but they weren't interesting enough to show here.
Many Books Feature Optical Illusions
So many books to choose from, most of which I have never seen before. I have listed a few of the higher rated books below. For A Complete Listing of Optical Illustions Click Here
Masters of Deception: Escher, Dali & the Artists of Optical Illusion
Amazon Price: $12.21 (as of 12/29/2009) 
Optical Illusions: The Science of Visual Perception (Illusion Works)
Amazon Price: $16.47 (as of 12/29/2009)
SuperVisions: Impossible Optical Illusions
Amazon Price: (as of 12/29/2009)
Amazing Optical Illusions
Amazon Price: $5.95 (as of 12/29/2009)
The Little Giant Book of Optical Illusions
Amazon Price: (as of 12/29/2009)
The Great Maze (Labyrinth)
The world's first modern style two story great maze. It was designed to be an adult size challenge.
The Guidelines at the Great Maze Entrance
This is not our first attempt at this maze (not our second attempt either). One would think we would be a lot better at it by now. Last time we came, we found all four towers, but couldn't find our way out - so we gave up after 2 hours and took a short cut! This time went better, but still not the 30 minutes that this big sign suggests.
Up and down, across, over, under, around, will we ever get out of here?
This dead end is at the base of a tower. We thought we were so close!
The View from The yellow tower.
Somebody took a short cut!
Sarah up in the green tower.
Still going up and down and around, well past the 30 minutes they suggested it would take us to complete.
Another view- this one from the blue tower.
Eventually We Found All Four Corners!
Yes, it is raining - we are looking for the way out!
"You have walked 5,268 steps" (mom's pedometer talks!)"
Finally, 5,268 steps later, we did it!
Finally, Time to Relax
One final truly unique thing about Stuart Landborough's Puzzling World is the cafe. After you are done exploring, you can sit with a cup of tea and play endless games and work on puzzles. They have a giftshop and all of the puzzles for sale are available for play in the cafe. We have even gone on rainy days just to work puzzles. You are not even required to make a purchase, although most probably do.
A View of the Exterior
So, What Do You Think?
Optical Illusion T-Shirts
The T-shirts here all available through Zazzle, an on-demand T-shirt and novelty house. These designs are made by other artists. Most Zazzle designs are available on a variety of different products, so if you like what you see here, click on the design and go directly to the product page for more information. or Click Here to go to my Zazzle Store
More Optical Illusion on eBay
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- oztoo oztoo Dec 7, 2009 @ 3:07 pm
- Looks like a real fun place to visit.
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- missbat missbat Sep 8, 2009 @ 6:27 pm
- Wow, if I ever get down NZ way, I will have to make a stop here! Great job on this lens!
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- _Joan_ _Joan_ Sep 5, 2009 @ 12:50 pm
- Love this!
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- davidstillwagon davidstillwagon Sep 4, 2009 @ 1:53 pm
- mazes are a lot of fun and so are optical illusions! 5*
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- mbgphoto mbgphoto Sep 3, 2009 @ 8:30 am
- This looks like a really fun place to visit! 5*
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- OhMe OhMe Sep 1, 2009 @ 3:37 am
- I sure enjoyed this lens so know that I would enjoy visiting Puzzling World.
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- stargazer00 stargazer00 Aug 27, 2009 @ 9:54 pm
- Puzzling World looks like so much fun!
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- puzzlemaker puzzlemaker Aug 26, 2009 @ 10:26 pm
- What a cool looking place. I've never seen anything like it. Those Roman toilets are quite a sight! And I like the videos - they give a real sense of what the special rooms must be like. Excellent info.
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- LoKackl LoKackl Aug 26, 2009 @ 6:35 am
- Looks like fun. Did you see Pan's Labyrinth? a movie of midieval/fantasy probably appropriate for adults, though a girl your daughter's age plays a leading role. Your daughter and friends are great promoters! Reminds me of some of the attractions at the Science Museum for kids in Oak Ridge Tennessee.
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- Joan4 Joan4 Aug 26, 2009 @ 5:50 am
- Sounds like super fun!
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A Bit More About the Author
Lensmaster Pukeko has been a member since May 17 2009, has rated 821 lenses, favorited 746, and has created 116 lenses from scratch. This member's top-ranked page is "Best of Make Me Laugh - Top 10 Funniest Zazzle Designs of 2009". See all my lenses
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