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added to the maze 3 years later. The park continued to develop with the signature
Leaning Tower of Wanaka being added in 1999 with a backwards running clock face. Landsborough credits his father with instilling in him an imaginative business sense and believes that part of the reason for the park's earlier success is because he advertised to attract adults rather than children.
259:(apparently to ensure no time wasters). For this they may sit in a room for 30 minutes with Stuart Landsborough seated behind a screen and ask questions while he visualises responses. The participant then has an hour to find the notes. To date the prize has not been claimed, although seven "professional" psychics have attempted the challenge, including a
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The
Illusion Rooms include a set of rooms designed to absorb the visitor within its particular optical illusory theme. Aside from "The Sculpillusion Gallery" it contains The "Hologram Hall", a large range of holographic images, both traditional and new. The "Tilted House", built at a 15-degree angle,
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in 1973, gradually expanding to become an award-winning complex of optical illusions and puzzling rooms and the world's first 3-D maze. Puzzling World is well known for its
Leaning Tower of Wanaka and eccentric lavatory styled as a Roman bathroom. As of 2020 Puzzling World had received in excess of 4
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area of New
Zealand, opened in 1973. It was the brainchild of Stuart and Jan Landsborough who had been forced to sell their house to raise money for the venture after being refused a bank loan. In the first year the park received 17,600 visitors. A puzzle centre was added in 1979 and a second level
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which had been hidden within 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) of the building. This was then reduced to a radius of 200 metres (660 ft), and finally in 2006, when the prize was doubled to $ 100,000 NZD, 100 metres (330 ft). Any 'psychic' participant is required to pay $ 1000 to take part
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logic puzzle. There is also an area devoted to exhibitions, the first dedicated to advertisements and familiar products which plays with how the viewer sees recognisable company logos. and more recently, "Un-usless" - A large display of impossible or useless inventions and creations by local
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In 2016 Puzzling World was the overall winner of the Ignite Wanaka
Business Awards and was described as "high-performing, unique and sustainable...with very low staff turnover." The SculptIllusion Gallery was recipient of a national award in the New Zealand Commercial Building Awards 2014.
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powers; potential winners need to use their powers to locate a specific item located somewhere on the
Puzzling World site. When the challenge began the prize was originally $ 50,000 NZD, for which any participant was required to find two halves of a
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Since 2004 Puzzling World has been run by Stuart's daughter, Heidi, and her husband, operations manager Duncan Spear. As of 2020 the site receives in the region of 200,000 visitors per annum.
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Puzzling World features a large maze in which the traveller must reach four coloured corner towers before finding the middle courtyard (emergency doors are included for those who struggle).
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The
Leaning Tower of Wanaka is, as the name implies, a tower that is seemingly impossibly balanced on one corner, making the whole structure lean at an angle of 53 degrees to the ground.
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sculptors and international artists aimed to amuse, confuse and amaze. Other features include stained glass windows with geometrical patterns and an area for conferences and events.
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During the Wanaka earthquake of 2015 people had to be evacuated while some visitors reported they thought it was part of the experience.
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and a man who prayed to locate them but failed to come back with an answer. In July 2022, the challenge officially ended.
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contains illusions such as water apparently flowing uphill, the octagonal "Hall of
Following Faces" with back-lit
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The operators of
Puzzling World have for many years offered a monetary prize for anybody who can prove they have
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In 2010 the park began a $ 2.5 million extension that included sculptures designed by local artists, such as
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The
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Puzzling World is the official sponsor of Junior Challenge Wanaka, a junior
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Puzzling World, originally a single level wooden maze at Wānaka in the
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million visitors and was attracting around 200,000 people a year.
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The Leaning Tower appearing to balance precariously on one corner
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on the walls, created by artist and sculptor Derek Ball, and an
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Optical illusion themed tourist attraction in New Zealand
404:"Puzzling World wins Wanaka's inaugural business awards"
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A seemingly floating tap in the SculptIllusion Gallery
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and part of New Zealand's largest triathlon festival.
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606:"STUART LANDSBOROUGH'S PUZZLING WORLD, WANAKA"
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278:List of prizes for evidence of the paranormal
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640:"Puzzling World - NZ"
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177:living wall
158:Attractions
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701:44°41′49″S
673:2023-08-16
649:2018-01-05
620:10 October
299:References
185:Crazy Nuts
113:Queenstown
552:7 October
385:7 October
231:Ames Room
144:triathlon
129:trilogy.
273:Illusion
267:See also
261:diviner
251:psychic
237:3D maze
107:History
72:Website
53:Founder
45:Founded
747:Wānaka
96:Wānaka
65:Wānaka
767:Mazes
548:. CSI
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100:maze
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83:.nz
81:.co
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