We all slept well. We are not sure if it was knowing that the end was near or the rainy weather, but we all slept without getting bitten once. It was magical!

We woke up to the sun trying to break through the clouds. A nice breeze kept blowing the clouds in and out. Laurie and the kids enjoyed the wind and played soccer outside while Andy did dishes after breakfast.

As per usual we were moving at 11am. We drove 8 minutes back up toward the village and to the Bealey Valley Track parking area.

Our dilly dallying this morning paid off. The clouds were clearing and it had stopped raining many hours before. The wind was blustery in the early morning but had calmed down considerably by the time we set foot on the trail.

The Track sign states the hike was 1.2 km and 25 mins. We thought this would be great since we had to return the campervan by 430pm today.

The trail started off relatively flat and meandered through a beautiful forest of mountain-beech trees. Immediately we were greeted with birdsongs that tried very hard to drown out the noise of the road and increased Saturday traffic.

Surprisingly, the trail started by traveling downhill on a series of staircases to a footbridge over the Bealey River.

After crossing the Bealey chasm, the trail went up steeply over wet tree roots before opening up to a beautiful view of the Waimakariri River Valley and surrounding mountains.

We realized at this point that the trail sign distance and times posted were for one way travel. Now we’re confused because some of them seem to be for round trip and some one way.

We haven’t done any hikes where this would be a concern given the short distances and time we are out for, but we are curious and will have to look this up.

The mountain-beech trees gave way to tussock grasslands and subalpine scrub. The trail was all boardwalk through this area.

When we entered the canopy of trees again, the boardwalks continued, but this time there were rises and descents built into them.

The kids had a blast through this section of trail. Eventually we came to a viewpoint of the striking mountains above with the Bealey River raging right before us. It was here we decided to turn around.

Laurie had promised to give the kids 2 gummies each at the turnaround point but had fallen one gummy short. When she cut one of the gummies in half and presented one and a half gummies to Ani, she lost her sh*t.

Miles had been saving most of his gummies so he could have them when back at the van and watching while we drove back to Christchurch but Ani had been eating hers.

Miles was content with his 1.5 gummies, but Ani felt the injustice deep in her bones. And she let us hear about it too. The river was no match for Ani’s shrill cries.

Laurie picked her up and tried to calm her down. After remembering we had more gummies in the van, Ani did finally calm down.

She was tired and ready for a nap. And feeling pressed for time since we still had to drive 1.5 hours to Christchurch and stop to dump, then stop again to fill the propane and get diesel, we were motivated to keep the train moving.

We made it back to the van by giving the kids more fruit snacks and playing games with them. Laurie challenged Miles to jump from step to step and see if he can do a whole staircase. Then she challenged Andy and Miles to do them together.

We all had fun and were in good spirits when we got to the van. Everyone got in their seats without much of a hassle because the kids were going to watch for 30 minutes while we drove.

And what a drive it was. The hour or so from Arthur’s Pass to Christchurch is incredibly beautiful.

The twisty two lane road hugs the lakes and hillsides while offering stunning views of the surrounding mountains. It was a lovely way to begin the end of our trip in the van.

At 3pm Andy reached the dump with both kids asleep. Stopping for an extended period of time when the kiddos are asleep is challenging because they usually wake up. Especially since Andy had to open the van’s rear doors to access the grey water hose.

Sure enough Miles woke up half way through the dumping of the grey tank. Andy entertained Miles so Ani could keep sleeping.

Once done with that chore, we headed toward the drive through propane station. After a few moments of driving, Andy realized he was on the wrong side of the road!

This was the first and only time he made this mistake on the whole trip. Thankfully he corrected immediately without incident. But since he was now distracted by what he had just done, he didn’t go slow enough across the train tracks and the bumps rattled Ani awake.

She immediately asked to watch, which they both did for about 40 minutes while we drove into Christchurch. There aren’t many places that offer to fill propane tanks, most just switch them out. The location that offers this service is a drive through but unfortunately they close at 3 pm on Saturdays. We got there at 4 pm.

Knowing that we tried, and that there was no other place within 15 minutes to fill up the propane tank, we filled up on diesel and arrived at the rental company at 415pm.

The folks were busy giving two couples their tutorials before their departures. One of the couples was from Washington State. We gave them our fans, window mesh, left over TP and hand soap as well as tips and answered a few of their questions while waiting for someone to inspect our van.

The folks at Wenderkrisen are very nice and polite. Not only did they listen to our feedback about the lack of ventilation and protection from the bugs, they let it slide that the propane wasn’t all the way full and let us borrow the car seats for two more days to use with our rental car.

They also suggested Andy go to the airport solo to get the rental car. This would avoid having to put the car seats and all of our stuff in the shuttle van, only to take it all out of the van, walk to the rental counter, then to the rental car itself and load all of it again – all while doing it with kids.

Laurie and the kiddos stayed back and had popsicles and hot chocolate. Sugared up to the wazoo made Andy’s task by far the easier one.

Andy was given the keys to a Suzuki Swift. It is the size of a Toyota Yaris and a far cry from the 25ft van he has been driving for over 3 weeks. Sitting much lower would also take some getting used to.

Ten minutes later Andy was back at the campervan rental company where the crew was well underway cleaning our van as it was going back out the following morning. Talk about a quick turnaround.

Andy found the kiddos and Laurie sitting in the lobby. The kids came out and ran around like they were wired directly to a battery.

Miles was immediately disappointed because our rental wasn’t a minivan with sliding doors. But when he got in and saw that he could hand crank open and close his window himself, he was ecstatic.

We drove to our Airbnb 12 minutes away, unpacked and looked for a place to get pizza. It was incredibly difficult to look at the restaurants that came up on our search under a barrage of questions and requests and comments and general craziness from the kiddos, so we decided to go back to Little High Eatery with the pizza place we had been to before we rented the van.

We got to Little High at 630pm on a Saturday and experienced a completely different vibe. Our previous visit here was around 4pm on a weekday. There were only a handful of people there at that time. Today there was hardly a place to sit.

We ordered two cheese pizzas from BASE Woodfired Pizza and two burgers from Bacon Bros. Burgers next door.

The pizzas were slightly burnt this time and not as good as the first time we were there. It was a bit of a letdown but Miles still ate 4 1/2 pieces of pizza.

After dinner we went back to another familiar place, The Margaret Mahy Family Playground. The kids made a beeline for the in-ground trampolines.

Andy was craving ice cream so we decided to treat the kids and asked if they wanted some. They really wanted to play a little bit longer so after 15 mins at the park we walked one block for ice cream.

Again, being Saturday around 730pm, Rollickin Gelato on New Regent Alley was packed, with a line going out the door.

To the disappointment of Miles, we ordered two scoops of ice cream in a cup instead of a cone. After getting over this disappointment, the kiddos practically had a competition of who could eat more. We’re not sure either of them tasted anything.

Sugared up we went back to the park and the kids played for about 30 minutes before we went back to the Airbnb.

We all needed to shower but Ani just refused and refused. After 30 minutes or so, she finally went into the shower with Andy. But Ani wanted Laurie to hold her hand. Except when she did so, opening the door made Ani cold and she would cry.

Eventually Laurie, who had already showered, went in the shower as well and we were able to wash Ani’s hair and clean her body properly for the first time since we took possession of the van over 3 weeks ago.

Miles had showered with Laurie to show Ani that it was fun. And while his efforts had not helped, we were appreciative he had played the role of older brother really well and tried to help his younger sister.

Around 1030pm, Laurie took Ani into their bedroom to nurse and go to sleep. The plan was for Miles to go sleep with them too once Ani was out so Andy could go to the laundromat.

This rental also had the washer/dryer combo but for the life of us we could not figure out how to dry the clothes Laurie had put in the machine.

With the help of some online research we figured that the machine “dries” the clothes with a spin cycle. Then, ideally one finishes drying the clothes outside on a clothesline. This would be fine except thunderstorms are in the forecast for tomorrow.

So we found a 24 hour laundromat nearby. It was late and this is kinda crazy but we need clean clothes. As Andy likes to joke- he can sleep when he’s dead.