Wednesday, June 15, 2011

What a long two days it has been! I know I haven't posted anything since the night before our puzzle world adventure in Wanaka, so I must provide you all with updates! Yesterday morning we woke up early and all walked down to the beach with tripods in hand just before the sun was rising to capture the beautiful sunrise. It was so peaceful to stand there in my selected area with tripod legs pushed into the sand as I watched the clouds make way for the sun to brighten the lake and highlight the details in the mountains standing before me.

After numerous sunrise shots, we all decided it was time for some much anticipated breakfast. But not before we all lined up our tripods in a line to take some group shots of us in front of the beautiful scenery! We were all laughing hysterically as we all lined up our tripods, stood by them as we counted to three, and all simultaneously ran to the shore to get in place so we could make it in time for the picture. After many failed attempts of half of the group being in the shot, or all of us being out of focus, or none of our eyes being open, I ended up getting this shot. And I ended up loving it more than I would have liked just a regular group photo. Cars drove by us and must have thought we were crazy. But at this point we are pretty used to the odd stares we get as we all run around like crazies snapping away. 

After a yummy breakfast back at the hostel we were staying at in Wanaka, we got on the bus and drove to Puzzle World! Puzzle World was crazy. Wanaka is this cozy little town right on the lake up in the mountains, which was why I was so shocked that Wanaka of all places had this crazy place called puzzle World! I haven't seen anything like this place. It's almost like Ripley's Believe It or Not, but even cooler. This place had multiple rooms; filled with optical illusions, artistic puzzles, a challenging maze outside, and this crazy warped room where everything was at an angle. Literally. You walk in, and you think you are standing up straight, but this is how it looks when you are standing:

Real talk.

Then Michael, Sarah, Britt, and I decided to brave the maze and boy was it challenging. We definitely cheated multiple times and climbed over fences and under walls to get to all the different towers. But it was still so fun!

Loving our self-timers for these shots. Love these kiddos too :)

Then after Puzzle World, Peter and Gemina decided it would be fun to hike up a mountain. Me, not so much. But it was definitely a good experience. It was not my favorite activity of the trip, but it did challenge me and bring out my more outdoorsy side. Didn't really know I had it in me!

Then last night after our exhausting hike, we decided to order in delicious pizza and call it a night early. But not before we had the chance to work with our tripods some more and some super slow shutter speeds and make some crazy glow light pictures!

Pretty neat, huh?