Team A

My first reaction to the view of the mountains in the background of Lake Wanaka was a jaw dropping “Wow!” Never before have I seen such natural beauty nestled so close to civilisation.

The mountains were in such close proximity to the town of Wanaka that when I first sighted them in the morning, it felt that I was looking at them through a giant magnifying glass. It was as if the mountains were coming down to greet the beautiful lake. The magnificent snow-capped peaks of the Mt Aspiring National Park make almost any spot in Wanaka look like a postcard.

Our heartfelt thanks to Ken and Kathryn Mitchel of Alpine Motel Apartments, Wanaka for being generous enough to offer us a room for the some of the runners.

Our team had a late start from Wanaka today because of a 1 pm presentation, which meant that my fellow teammate Nigel and I had the whole morning to spend in Wanaka. After a bit of sight-seeing we found ourselves in Stuart Landsborough’s Puzzling World, a unique attraction that offers tourists the world’s first modern-style maze with 1.5 km of passages, illusion rooms, hologram halls and much more. Duncan, the co-owner of the business and son-in-law of Mr. Landsborough himself, was kind enough to offer Nigel and I a complimentary entry into this wonderful place along with his best wishes for the run ahead.

First up we decided to try out the maze. But what was meant to take the average person 30 minutes to an hour turned out to be an epic 1.5 hours for us to find our way out!

Thanks to some sloppy directions, poor decision-making, plenty of wrong turns, dead ends and going around in squares, we had reached the four towers that were at the four corners of the maze. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the two of us emerged from the great labyrinth having walked close to 5 kms. What an effort!

The next hour was spent in the various illusion rooms – my favourite being the ‘Tilted House’. The whole room is tilted at 15 degrees but the brain corrects the illusion, hence making normal displays seem to hang at impossible angles.

Thank you Duncan for the few hours of fun you provided for us!

After such a deceptively disorientating discombobulation, we had to quickly find our balance and direction, for it was soon time for a World Harmony Run presentation at a holiday program being run at Mt Aspiring College, set up by the Community Networks Group, Wanaka.

A beautiful white blossom-tree made the perfect backdrop for our presentation where the children at the holiday program greeted us with great energy and enthusiasm.

They had made a giant World Harmony Run banner for the team to welcome us and they even learned our song fast enough to sing it before our departure.

Everyone had the chance to hold the Torch and make their own wishes for peace, as well as participate in running a lap of the oval.

After this, it was time to hit the road again and head towards another stunning location, Queenstown. Our team had a relatively short distance to run to Queenstown and we decided to make as many stops on the way so we could soak up as much of the scenery and natural beauty that this part of New Zealand has to offer.

The run to Queenstown was simply awe-inspiring. All along the road on both sides were mountains sprinkled with snow.

And then there was the Kawarau River; a long, surging and meandering river that we followed for a number of kilometres.

Finally we arrived at Queenstown – so named because it was "fit for Queen Victoria" –  nestled on the banks of Lake Wakatipu and guarded by ‘The Remarkables’, a regal mountain range. 

We will spend the night at Aspen Lodge Backpackers, thanks to the generosity of Tiffany. Thank you!

– Muslim Badami

Team B

Today our team travelled into New Zealand's famous ski resort, Queenstown. Passing through mountainous terrain, running alongside the side of the river, which was carrying a tremendous torrent of gushing water, we were invigorated.

Our ceremony today was with holiday program run by Lakes Leisure. We enjoyed a run around the gymnasium with the kids who were eager to hear of our journey.

We relaxed in town and travelled up the famous Gondala which has stunning 360 degree views taking in the Alps, lakes, and town. Passengers are taken by cable car up the steep ascent in a few minutes and can luge, trek or even bungee back down.

We ended the day with an Indian flavour, enjoying dinner at the best Indian restaurant in town at the Tandoori Palace. Then when we checked in at our accommodation at Queenstown Lakeview Holiday Inn, their Indian staff member Levhita was kind enough to hold the Torch.

– Grahak Cunningham

Team C

This morning we departed Wanaka Bakpaka and began a drive to Central Otago.

We ran over the winding roads, passed snow-sprinkled mountains and were very happy to feel the warm sun on our backs.

After the tangled, wild green beauty of the west coast, and the icy peaks of the Haast Pass, the flat, smooth browns of Otago came as a bit of a surprise, but it was just as beautiful to run through.

Along the way, we paused to visit the world's first bungee jump over the Kawarau River, which is still operating as A.J. Hackett's.

Suddenly, from behind a hill 'The Remarkables' appeared. Their jagged, snow-covered faces towering above Lake Wakatipu, ripples spiralling out across its surface.

Once we reached Queenstown, we visited a school holiday program. 

The children were aged from five to twelve and after singing them our song, getting them to sing it back and chatting to them about world harmony, we ran around a big gymnasium with them and let them hold the Torch and make a wish.

Later in the afternoon, we went up the Queenstown Gondola, two of us on the free tickets that Skyline had provided.

We stood on the lookout and admired the astounding view of the lake and mountains, before taking the gondola back down.

– Rupashri Brown

Team Members:
Iris Klapper (Austria), Muslim Badami (India), Erika Pongracz, Gabor Horvath (both Hungary), Lubos Svec (Czech Republic), Melinda Pearson, Grahak Cunningham, Nigel Webber, Prachar Stegemann (Australia), Rupashri Brown, , Stacey Marsh, Harita Davies, Shobhavati Davies, Budhsamudra Knox, Anurakta O'Neill, Tim Cranfield

Gallery: See more images!