We woke up and drove 10 minutes in our pjs to town. We needed to shop and dump before driving 20 minutes to Shantytown – a historic mining village.

As one would expect, bigger towns have larger grocery stores which offer more variety and increase the chances of finding bread and other foods with better ingredients. Interestingly, every store, even if part of the same chain, sell different things.

Andy parked at the beach 2 blocks from New World supermarket and opened the back doors so Laurie and the kids could have views of the ocean.

The breeze meant no bugs so we all enjoyed the refreshing air and sounds of the crashing waves.

Miles really did not want to leave the van so he and Laurie stayed to color and do crafts.

Ani wanted to go with Andy but once in the market she wanted to be carried, refused to sit in the cart (or trolly as they’re called here) and Andy had forgotten her shoes. So after 15 minutes he brought her back to the van.

We had hoped it would be a quick shopping trip since we mainly needed perishables but it still took an hour. Andy is very attentive to making sure we put good quality foods in our bodies so shopping takes time. And since every store sells different things, reading ingredient labels is a continuous task.

It has to be done so Andy does it but Laurie and the kids get impatient. We learned quickly on this trip that it works best when he does the shopping solo.

Laurie and kiddos ate berries, apples and cheese on the bed while watching the waves and people come and go. There is something so special about sitting on a bed with feet nestled in a comforter gazing out at the beautiful world.

Just as Andy was walking back to the van he saw Laurie and the kids clambering out to walk 20 feet to the beach. It took some convincing but Laurie believed this would be the last beach of our trip and wanted to make sure the kids got an opportunity to dig and play if desired.

We spent 90 minutes at the beach. The top layer of the sand was warm but cool sand was found only an inch below. We took turns burying each others legs and building castles.

Andy came down to join after putting away groceries and took Ani to the water. Laurie and Miles started to build a driftwood teepee but Laurie accidentally knocked it over, greatly upsetting Miles. Following the release of strong emotions, we built it again.

After the teepee was made, we stood back once more and had a moment of awe. It felt so cool to gaze at snow capped mountains while our feet were buried in sand.

Once back in the van we shared a second breakfast and eventually around 120pm headed north 4 minutes to the dump. Around 2pm we were finally on the road to Shantytown.

It was past Ani’s nap time, but Laurie kept her engaged and awake as we drove. Unfortunately as we walked up we saw a big puff of smoke rising from behind the front buildings.

Initially we thought there could be a fire but it lessened rather than grew. We realized it was the coal engine of the train, which had just left the station. Biscuits!

After a short stop at the model train exhibit, we walked 5 minutes through a rainforest to the gold panning site. Nobody was there, but a sign said they were out on the train and would return shortly. We wandered around and played games, trying to keep Ani engaged so she didn’t get cranky and crash.

At 2:45 we watched a demonstration of a technique used in gold mining called sluicing. High pressure water was sent into the hillside by a metal fire hydrant and was funneled down through a channel with wooden slatted boards.

Each of these boards sat on top of wool or some other fabric. The theory is that since gold is heavy, it would fall into the slats and get caught in the fabric while dirt and rocks would tumble down the channel or fall off the fabric. This technique was effective but costly both in man power and to the environment.

Finally around 3pm we walked back to the gold mining area. This was the main reason we came and the heat and long wait was making us all cranky.

Once we got to panning, we all started to have fun. And it turns out Andy is a natural gold miner! He helped each kid sift out the dirt and rocks until all that was left in the pan were some sand sized speckles of gold. Each kid got a small vile with their gold as a souvenir and we decided to leave so Ani could finally get her nap.

But as we walked toward the entrance we noticed that the train was leaving in 5 minutes. Not wanting to miss an opportunity to ride on a coal engine, we walked through the waiting room of the makeshift town and onto the 1 car train.

Unfortunately it was running late so we waited.

And waited.

And waited.

Ani was starting to lose it. She nursed when we finally took off and was falling asleep as we rode, but got a second wind when the train stopped at the turn around spot.

We walked through the engine car and got to feel the heat of the stove and touch the coal that was going in to power the train.

Once back at the entrance, both kids wanted to play; Miles with the model trains and Ani at the playground. We gave them 15 minutes before a hard stop.

We finally left around 345pm. Once on the road Ani fell asleep almost immediately. At one point she was trying to take bites and chew her bread, butter and honey with her eyes closed. It’s the cutest thing when she tries to do this.

We drove south for a short bit, then turned inland and east toward Christchurch.

The road to the town of Arthur’s Pass, and the pass itself felt like the passes we’re used to; steep climbs up twisty roads that are narrow and exposed.

The kids were asleep as we crested the pass under stormy skies. It was wet and windy but we stopped at the top m to get a view of a spectacular bridge and were met with a strong wind and 2 friendly Kea birds.

These mountain parrots were the same type of bird that was pecking at our windshield in Milford Sound.

Both kids slept until we got to camp at 6pm. We had said we were not going to let them take late naps but their bodies and minds needed the extra sleep so we’re ok with it and will give them grace to ensure night time isn’t a struggle.

Camp tonight was at Klondyke Corner, a DOC operated campsite on the shores of the Bealy River with plenty of space for people to spread out.

Laurie got out another toy surprise for the kids shortly after we parked at camp – cling on decorations. She didn’t think it would be a hit but the kids were engaged and played for an hour with them. First by themselves, then together.

We ate mac and cheese for dinner with minced bacon Andy bought from the butcher the day before. It was a hearty and filling meal. Andy used gouda in the mac and cheese, which happens to be a great cheese for this application.

The kiddos drank two servings of apple and blueberry juice with dinner, then played more until it was time for bed around 10pm.

From the moment we parked at camp, Ani asked Andy to go outside. As much as Andy wanted to go outside himself and take Ani with him, he didn’t want the plethora of sandflies to come in.

Maybe it wouldn’t have mattered because we killed 15 sandflies in the 20 minutes or so before bed. We saw zero since being at camp from 630pm until 10pm. Where did they all come from?

We have a few theories, including the sandflies hiding in the gaps in the windows and coming out when it gets dark after we turn on the bright interior lights.

But why would they wait until right before bed? Those lights were on for at least two hours. We give up trying to figure out where they are coming in from and just want to make it through the next two days and return the van.

At 11pm Ani was all of a sudden afraid of monsters being in Blue Wave. To put her at ease, we turned on a few lights and conducted a monster check.

After she felt better about the van being monster free, we listened to piano music for 2nd night in a row as we all dosed off to sleep.

This is our 2nd to last night in the van. Andy and Laurie are ready to be done getting bitten by pesky flies and Miles is ready to play with his toy ambulance Avi.

Ani seems to just be going along with whatever as long as she gets sweet treats and “bootie”. But Miles is a week past his limit for how long we can travel before he yearns to be back home.