We all woke up around 845am to angry skies. It had rained overnight but sandflies were still eager to get in.

The kids drew on the bed while eating milk and muesli for breakfast.

We left camp around 1130am and went across the highway to the parking area for the blue pools.

The suspension bridges leading to the pools were being replaced and therefore closed, meaning no access to the pools at all. Laurie was disappointed as this was described as a kid friendly destination (aka- short distance walk to see the main attraction).

We chose to hike a few minutes on the trail anyway and were welcomed by a rainforest with beautiful ferns and other vibrant plants surrounded by thriving trees covered in moss.

We turned around after 15 minutes and headed back to the van, primarily because Miles mentioned needing to poop but then said he no longer needed to. In the past when this has happened the urge to go has come on very suddenly and we were walking with nothing – no potty, no wet wipes, not even Kleenex.

We drove about 20 minutes under a canopy of lush green trees to the pullout for Haast Pass Lookout, which means we officially made it to the West Coast.

The sign stated it was a 30 minute walk, which usually is the time for a round trip adventure.

The trail meandered through beautiful rainforest at first, then climbed steeply on a rocky, wet trail. And up and up it continued.

We weren’t quite sure what we were in for (as we don’t typically research stops of minimal significance such as this) but hoped for a relatively short hike with views once at the viewpoint.

On one of the switchbacks, while Laurie was carrying Ani and they were ahead, Miles asked Andy if he knew how to make sarma.

(Sarma is what most people call dolma, but Armenians call grape leaves stuffed with rice, sarma, and grape leaves stuffed with meat, dolma).

Andy said yes, he does know how to make sarma. Miles asked very calmly and politely if he would make some when we were back home. This simple request gives us a lot of insight into the workings of his beautiful mind.

He was likely hungry and also missing the comforts of home. Our wonder-full boy, whom Andy affectionately calls Chief Homebody is ready to be home, and probably has been for a while now. But he’s being a real trooper and doing really well moving to a new destination daily.

With many breaks and fueled by encouragement and dried fruit, Miles hiked all the way up the steep, rocky trail by himself. We were happy to have made it, even if it took twice as long. But we were even more proud of Miles!

Andy and Laurie were sweating from the incline and muggy weather. Even though we hiked less today than the distance we did at Crown Range summit, this felt longer and harder because of the humidity.

Around 130pm we returned to the van with Ani continually asking for bootie. This is usually a sign of wanting comfort or feeling tired. Unfortunately though, after nursing back at the van, she was full of energy and mischief. We got back in our seats and drove 7 minutes to Thunder Creek Falls.

Living up to its name, this lovely waterfall sounded like thunder crashing as we walked the very short distance to it from the road.

We walked down the series of steps to the river to get the full scale of the falls, but with the presence of many sandflies there, we left quickly and retreated back to the van, listening to the thunderous falls along the way.

A few minutes after returning to Blue Wave the wind really picked up, the skies opened up and it started to pour. Miles described it like driving through a car wash. After 10 minutes the heavy rain stopped and we were driving under blue skies once more.

As we mentioned before, this is another perfect example of New Zealand wonder; not only does the landscape change quickly, but the weather does too.

We had a few more stops scheduled but chose to skip them so Ani would nap. Thankfully everyone got in their seats without too much fuss and after 10 minutes she was out.

About 25 minutes later Miles fell asleep too. We were only 40 minutes away from our next stop so Andy drove well below the speed limit and bought them a few extra minutes of sleep before we arrived at the dunes.

We parked at the Tauparikākā Marine Reserve around 3pm and the kiddos woke up shortly after. We decided it would be a good idea to cook here and not at camp so the van doesn’t feel as warm when it’s time for bed.

It did indeed got hot in the van when Andy was cooking but we had kombucha to cool us down. Then we remembered we had purchased 3 little desk fans back near Abel Tasman so we unpacked them all and plugged them in. Two faced the kiddos and Laurie in the bed and one faced Andy in “the kitchen”.

Around 5pm we left the van and went exploring and looking for the dunes. What they call dunes were maybe 12 ft of sand covered in brush, and not very vast.

But that didn’t matter to us. The sand was soft and the kids were ready to dig. And boy did they dig.

Miles dug a hole so deep that when Andy stepped into it, he sunk down to his knee. Ani enjoyed using the sand Miles dug out of his hole to fill her bucket. Later she enjoyed making animal shapes with Laurie with the same sand.

Andy and Laurie played driftwood softball while the kids were playing in the sand. Andy would find rocks of various shapes and pitch them underhanded to Laurie, who was using a small but mighty club shaped bat.

It was pleasant and present care free fun. It felt nice to share a moment together while the kids played nicely together.

Just before 7pm we packed up to leave. The kids enjoyed running on the boardwalk and racing to blue wave. We passed the lookout tower we had all climbed up when we first got there and rounded the corner into the parking area.

In 20 minutes time we rolled in to camp. Most people were spread out. We drove around looking for the most secluded spot. We settled on the beach access site, away from most other campers except for another blue wave. There were no signs restricting camping there so we got relatively level and called it home.

After dinner, the kids read with Laurie. Richard Scarry books have been quite the hit on this trip and Miles especially has enjoyed looking for goldbug on every page.

Miles wanted to sleep with dada but it was too hot on the top bed for him so he went down in hopes of cooler temps.

The kids wouldn’t settle and wanted to go up together at 1045pm. Acting like rascals, they didn’t stay long and both went back down soon after. Laurie was getting really irritated.

Thirty minutes later, around 1120pm everyone was upset with Ani. She was not listening, not settling, was hitting Miles and not sleeping. She also picked the bandages off of her chin that Laurie put on earlier in the evening.

Laurie was reaching her limit. And now was really tired too. Finally, after another round of nursing and threatening to take away bootie for the rest of the trip, around 1140pm, Ani finally settled and everyone fell asleep.