Woke up around 915am. It was already warm. All were bitten multiple times last night, including the kids. We believe it was the work of just one sandfly.

Sandflies can’t see at night so they usually don’t bite during the darkest hours, but this sandfly happened to be at the right place at the right time.

After reading more about them, sandflies are also known as black flies and the females draw blood and feed on it to produce more eggs, similar to mosquitoes.

We ate breakfast while people watching our neighbors playing soccer and doing yoga. We continue to question how others leave their van doors open and bask in the outdoors with the presence of these annoying bugs.

Have we turned that soft? We simply don’t want to cover ourselves or the kids with Deet and believe this is the biggest difference between us and everyone else.

On the boat ride at Milford Sound we saw someone spraying themselves from head to toe, literally. Then closing her eyes and spraying her hair and face.

No thank you.

Around 11am we finally left camp. Our first stop was 20 minutes away at Māori Beach. The kids were excited to dig with their shovels and make sandcastles.

They had lots of fun with Andy while Laurie took a few minutes cleaning the floor of the van. We do our best to keep shoes near the door but sand and dirt keep migrating all over and eventually end up on the sheets which is not fun at bedtime.

Eventually we made our way to the water and waited for the waves of the Tasman Sea to crash into us.

Predictably Miles was hesitant at first but when the three of us went, he came too. And also predictably, he had the most fun.

Miles enjoyed dada picking him up with one arm like a dumbbell when big waves came. Ani was content in mama’s arms. Then mama and dada lifted Miles up together to avoid big waves. Ani was still content in mama’s arms. Miles was having so much fun, it was lovely to hear his giggles and see his mannerisms pretending to fight the ocean monsters.

The temperature of the water was so pleasant. What was not so pleasant were the waves bringing rocks with them. Compared to the sandy beaches in the north, the West Coast has rocky beaches. This beach in particular had beautiful white rocks, some of which we collected to bring home.

The rocks were fun to look at, particularly when wet because the colors would pop so much. But the rocks hitting our feet with each wave didn’t feel particularly good.

After about 30 minutes in the water, a larger rock hit Andy on the inside of his ankle. This was our signal that we had overstayed our welcome and it was time to go.

Ani was also tired because it was around 130pm and she wanted to nurse and go to sleep. Naturally it took some convincing for Miles to leave the beach but we gathered our stuff and climbed the rocks back to the van parked at a pullout 100ft or so behind an ice cream shack. Thankfully Laurie nor the kiddos noticed it.

We ate lunch consisting of smoked salmon, cheese, crackers and apples while listening to the sounds of the crashing waves. Eventually, around 215pm we got in our seats and headed inland.

Miles rode shotgun and Laurie sat next to Ani, who peacefully fell asleep for her afternoon nap.

Thirty minutes later we turned on to Gillespie Beach Road in hopes of seeing Fox Glacier from a viewpoint.

Our initial plan was to camp at Gillespie Beach where apparently you can see the glacier while standing on the beach. While seeing both an ocean and a glacier without moving our feet sounded spectacular, it made for a very long drive the following day.

Time spent in car seats are some of the most challenging moments of travel for us so we like to spread it out. We figured we’d get to Franz Josef today and take care of the town chores and hopefully see another glacier.

As the road turned right and became gravel, Laurie spotted Fox Glacier peeking through below the clouds. Andy parked and got out to get a closer look. Laurie stayed behind since Ani was sleeping and Miles wanted something to eat.

We didn’t stay there very long because we didn’t want Ani to wake up. The glacier was a nice surprise as we didn’t think we’d see it given the afternoon cloud cover.

Not so surprisingly, these mountains share traits with other mountains around the world. Mornings tend to be clear, clouds gather in the afternoon, and eventually disperse an hour or so before sunset, gifting those lucky enough to be watching them a magnificent sunset.

What’s different about New Zealand though is that these glaciers are visible from the ocean! This country is just on another level of spectacular. Oceans and beaches give way to rainforests which have glaciers as their backdrop.

And that’s just the West Coast of the South Island! Every part of this country offers something special and is very unique. We have been in awe every day.

There have been many times when our awe has been overshadowed by sandflies or mosquitoes but we know that when we look back at this trip in the years to come, we’re not going to remember the itching and late nights as much as we will the stunning landscape and how the kids appreciated and immersed themselves in it.

The twisty road with hairpin turns through the rainforest led us to Franz Josef 40 minutes after leaving Fox Glacier. Ani woke up just as we pulled into town and parked at the playground.

Miles stayed behind with Laurie for a moment while Andy and Ani went to the playground. Ani went up the steps and just as she was about to go down the slide, a boy Miles’ age came up the slide and started pushing Ani around.

Andy moved the kid away from Ani and asked him politely not to push her around. He continued to try to push her and get in her space. Ani was scared at this point so Andy removed her from the slide. The kid’s mother finally came over to speak to him after she lifted her head and peeled herself away from her phone. He wasn’t listening to her either so she removed him from the playground momentarily.

Andy held Ani, who just wanted to leave, but Andy explained to her that kids can be rough and he would keep her safe.

Miles and Laurie arrived and Ani stared running after Miles and tried copying whatever he did. This was just the distraction and redirection Ani needed.

Laurie played with the kiddos for a few minutes while Andy went to check out the dump. He returned and tagged out Laurie so she could shower.

The shower was not getting hot. At first we realized the propane was not on. But Laurie still was not getting hot water.

Remembering what tech support had said when this happened 5 or so days ago, Andy reset the circuit breaker and voilah, we had hot water again.

Miles was hot and didn’t want to go back to the playground. Andy and the kids read a few books while Laurie finished her shower, with neither kid unsurprisingly wanting to join Laurie in the shower.

The wet bath is small and gets very steamy during a shower and stays quite steamy afterwards. Unless you leave the bathroom door open, then the whole van gets steamy and hot. We may not have mentioned this but there’s no fan or even a vent in the bathroom.

Neither kid liked the warm air initially but Miles did enjoy standing on the toilet and feeling the warm water splash on him ONCE he got in.

Andy and the kiddos read Goodnight Moon to the continuous backdrop of helicopters flying by. Helicopter tours are very popular here. Some even drop you off at the foot of the glaciers for you to hike on them.

The kids didn’t want to go back to the playground, which was not only exposed but small, wet and a bit run down, so they chose to stay in the van with Laurie while Andy dumped the tanks and filled up the fresh water tank.

As Andy pulled up to the dump he couldn’t hold back his frustration with a hipster-type camper washing his socks, feet, hair and face at the fresh water spigot.

New Zealand has public showers available in many places. This was the first time we’ve seen this type of behavior at a filling area and we know this is probably uncommon but seeing someone improperly using a service that so many rely on was infuriating.

Andy dumped the grey tanks and the cassette toilet. As he tried to turn around to fill the water, which is on the other side of the van, another campervan showed up. Thankfully they pulled far enough forward that Andy could fill the fresh water tank.

With that done, Andy hurriedly put the hoses and gloves away and got in the van as fast as he could to minimize the number of sandflies that followed him in.

Andy got eaten alive. He was in flip flops, t shirt and shorts. That’s the last time he would be doing that.

After Miles helped Andy fill up on diesel, we parked a block away and went to the 4 Square supermarket.

Similar to diesel, groceries cost more in this remote town. The selection at the grocery store wasn’t to our liking either so we bought a few essentials and headed for camp.

We were only 15 minutes from camp but remembering how nice it was the day before to cook before getting to camp, Laurie saw a turnoff to a lake, which we took so Andy could cook and Laurie and the kids could enjoy more time by the water.

While standing on the dock, Laurie chatted with a gal who was slowly entering the lake for a swim. She and her husband were from North Carolina and were traveling for 2 weeks.

We both agreed that one needed at least 3 weeks to fully appreciate the diversity of this island. The lady grimaced at one point, admitting to seeing 2 eels as she walked deeper in the water.

Laurie could never imagine swimming knowing there were eels around and gave the gal a lot of credit for doing so.

The kids occupied themselves by throwing rocks and sticks in the water. With help from the couple, we saw one of the eels swimming below us.

All the while Andy cooked rice, tortellini and chicken with carrots, broccoli and red bell peppers for dinner. Even though the windows were open and the fan over the burners was on, it was very hot in the van when everyone returned.

Miles ate some tortellini, and eventually so did Ani. Andy needed a shower and decided to take one. We also decided that since we had accidentally bought bone-in chicken thighs and now had raw chicken in a paper bag along with our other trash, we would drive the 10 minutes back to town, dump the grey water again, top off the fresh water, throw away our trash and then head to camp.

Andy wore pants and shoes this time to dump and fill. Thankfully he had a breeze too. While he was filling he left the engine running so the kids could pretend drive. We’ve mentioned how much they like doing this, especially Miles. They especially like see-sawing the steering wheel, a lot.

Well, it just so happens that the tar layed down at the dump was very soft. Couple that with the weight of the van and the hard tires, big chunks of gravel and tar had stuck to both front tires. Driving on the paved road felt like driving on a washboard gravel road. Laurie thought we had a flat tire.

Andy knew exactly what the issue was so he parked on the side of the road and found a stick to remove the gum-like tar stuck on both front tires. It took some doing but he cleared off enough of the tar so that the driving experience was acceptable.

Driving into town we had noticed an excavator and made a note to stop by there to get a closer view of Franz Josef Glacier now that the clouds were parting.

We turned into the gravel entrance to find a very large river bed with a lot of construction going on. We drove to a rise in the road and parked.

The kids wanted dada to control them with his remote so he did and they ran and ran. Just after Laurie said to Andy, “I really hope neither of them faceplants here” Miles tried to make a quick change of direction and fell.

Thankfully he was ok. The glacier and the Minarets were both in view and very stunning. Miles really wanted Andy to race him from the dump truck to the steamroller but Andy had recently showered and really didn’t want to sweat.

But how could he say no to a 5 year old boy who needed to run out his energy before winding down for the evening?

The race was on!

Miles and Andy gave Ani a ten second head start and then they were off. Miles is very fast. But he’s still no match for Andy, who kept it close.

Laurie and Ani eventually caught up to the boys and we attempted to take a family photo. As we were saying cheese, the town’s tsunami warning siren went off.

It was loud and startled us all. Andy told the kids what the sound usually means and that it was probably a test the town was conducting. But it was 820pm and a very odd time to be testing the sirens.

Miles was really scared by the sudden alarm. Despite Andy reassuring him that he would be ok and if there was any danger we would keep him safe, he kept asking about the alarm. Miles may have heard our words but the scare remained inside him.

Andy checked to see if there were any earthquakes reported at that time but found nothing.

Around midnight, Andy was still awake and scratching his many bites. He looked it up again and read an article from the New Zealand Herald about a magnitude 7.3 earthquake that had struck near the island of Vanuatu around 2:45pm.

The article mentioned that at 3:54pm New Zealand’s National Emergency Management Agency officially stated that the earthquake posed no tsunami threat to New Zealand.

The siren remains baffling to Andy.

We arrived at camp the latest of the trip. At 850pm we rolled in to Otto/Mcdonald’s camping area. Otto’s loop was quite full so we went to McDonald’s and found many sites available.

Andy pulled into a very flat and level parking spot which for the Kiwis is a camp spot and called it home.

With dinner made there wasn’t much to do, so we relaxed and ate. Ani ate a good amount of rice, chicken, carrots and broccoli while Miles ate cheesy bread we had bought from the market earlier in the day.

Laurie started to consolidate our food and empty out a drawer that had a broken locking mechanism. We discovered this on our early days and taped it shut.

The kiddos saw the snacks and wanted everything in sight. Andy laughed because it looked like they either had the munchies or we just weren’t feeding them enough. Or most likely, they just wanted sweet treats!

They ate a mixture of snacks from New Zealand and home, consisting of fruit leathers, Justin’s white chocolate and peanut butter cups, pea crisps, more fruit leather and apple sauce.

Once full, the kids played doctor and helped Laurie put bandages on the self inflicted open wounds on the top of her left foot from scratching the bites way too viciously.

After the normal power struggle of trying to get pjs on, brush teeth and pee, Laurie read them books while Andy hunted for sandflies.

We know there’s at least one in the van and we hope it leaves us alone tonight.

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.

It was cold last night, maybe the coldest it has been this whole trip. We slept with both windows open and it got chilly!

In the morning Andy closed the windows and turned on the heater, just the second time this trip we’ve had to do that, or maybe the third.

The kiddos played more with Foil Fun, then Uno. As per usual, during breakfast we watched other campers leave one by one until we were the last ones left.

Around 11am we finally started the engine and headed down the pass toward Wānaka. Ani was rather fussy almost immediately and it became clear why after ten minutes when she closed her eyes.

We only had a short 20 minute drive to the hike we had planned so we switched things around and headed to the toy and car museum- adding 10 minutes to the drive..

It’s become clear that if Ani goes to sleep in her car seat, she is likely to wake up pretty soon after the engine turns off and we are stationary.

With this in mind, Miles and Andy went to the museum and Laurie stayed behind with Ani. Unfortunately Ani woke up minutes after and the gals joined the fellas.

Miles wanted to buy everything after Laurie said he could buy something for his birthday. He excitedly met Laurie and Ani at the door and gave them a tour of everything he wanted. He beelined for the wall display of large Bruder trucks and was disappointed to hear that one wouldn’t fit in our suitcase.

We had to tear both kids away from the toys and old school supermarket ride on toys to actually enter the first of 5 hangers worth of toys and cars.

Immediately we were flooded by a mixture of overwhelm and awe. We were surrounded by classic cars, classic gas pumps, classic derby cars, toy cars and so much more. Things were in glass cases, hanging from the ceiling, displayed on shelves and piled in corners.

Andy loved looking at the cars and Laurie chased the kids around looking at all the things.

We walked into the 2nd part of the museum and found ourselves in Lego and Hot Wheels heaven. The man there has a collection of over 10,000 Hot Wheels cars, including some limited edition ones worth 5 figures.

Here were more model train sets that the kids loved because they could press a button and activate the trains. Miles could have stayed for hours.

This was the most impressive area by far and the one the kiddos enjoyed the most. Miles LOVES trains and we spent a lot of time there.

Eventually we went to check out the other hangers, which were full of old cars, planes, ambulances, police cars, tanks and farm equipment. We didn’t spend much time in the last 3 hangers, but once outside we saw the classic pedal cars.

Miles and Laurie made a beeline for them, with Ani excitedly in tow. The three of them jumped into the yellow pedal car and went for a ride with Miles steering and Laurie pedaling.

Once they were back Andy and Ani got into the black car and gave chase to Miles and Laurie in the yellow car.

We had a lot of fun and were exhausted after taking the old beaters for a relatively long lap around two of the hangers.

Once back at the entrance building, Miles looked at more toys while Laurie and Andy played large jenga. Suddenly, Ani declared she had to pee. When Laurie turned around Ani had already started peeing on the carpet.

Laurie was quick to pick up Ani after a second of disbelief and ran her out of the museum entrance. Andy notified the gal at the counter of the accident. She was not pleased.

It was embarrassing but we reminded ourselves that accidents happen. Ani has done extremely well with communicating her toileting needs and is typically very good at holding her pee until on the toilet. In hindsight it was 130pm and Ani had not yet peed today. We chose to take this incident as a reminder that we need to encourage the kids pee before we go places.

Laurie changed Ani’s clothes in the van while Miles looked around a bit more. Eventually he settled on a classic truck camper that resembled our truck and camper. We purchased it for the kids to share and left the museum.

We had a 15 minute drive to Wānaka, with our first stop being a willow tree that lives in the lake. Sadly we didn’t get there.

We parked a little ways away with hopes of a short walk but Laurie got side tracked by a “beach toy library” built out of wood pallets, located under a large willow on the rocky beach. The kids played with shovels and dump trucks while Andy skipped rocks and Laurie took in the views.

Around 3pm we drove to another parking area closer to the tree. Laurie closed her eyes for a few minutes while Andy made and fed the kids tortellini.

Around 430pm we finally left the van to go see the tree. It was cool but there was a tour bus full of tourists that made the experience less special.

It was time to leave town and make our way to camp. But the toilet stunk more than usual yesterday and today so we decided to go to the dump before leaving town.

We had a bit of miscommunication as Laurie declared she was going to shower while Andy stopped to dump the tanks. After expressing his frustration, Andy pulled out of the dump and parked nearby for Laurie and the kids to shower and returned to the dump site 30 minutes later.

Around 6pm we were finally headed out of town. Ani was cranky again, and just like earlier today, within minutes she closed her eyes.

It sure was late to be taking a nap but try as we might, she would not wake up. So we just let her sleep. Unlike Miles, Ani has still been able to sleep at bedtime even if she takes later naps. But this was way later. We’ll see what happens tonight.

Ani woke up just as we pulled into camp at 7pm. Home for the night is at Cameron Flat Campsite, which is within the boundaries of Mt. Aspiring National Park.

The drive out of Wānaka was stunning all the way to camp. We skirted along the shores of Lake Hāwea with incredible mountains surrounding us on all sides before crossing over The Neck and getting more incredible views of more stunning mountains from the shores of Lake Wānaka. It was so pretty in all directions that it was hard to know which way to look.

We stopped for diesel in the town of Makarora, just before entering Mt. Aspiring National Park.

Andy got out to put the screens on the windows once we were happy with where we had parked and how relatively level we were. The sandflies made their presence known immediately.

Once Andy got back inside, none of us went outside again. At one point we counted 16 sandflies just on the passenger window alone.

It’s times like these we are grateful to be in the van and not in a tent. And while better, some sandflies had followed Andy in.

And since it was not breezy at all, we’re pretty sure some of the pesky sandflies got in through the screens as well.

We killed almost two dozen of them from the time we parked until we finished brushing our teeth.

Laurie feels a sense of dread as bedtime creeps in. Will we sleep? Will we be itchy and be up trying to kill bugs all night?

How much will the kids protest and resist every step of the bedtime routine? As stated above, this van offers a lot of comfort but being bitten while sleeping is getting old!

Around 1030pm, we finally turned out the lights. Miles and Andy were out pretty quickly. Andy woke up to Ani crying around 1115pm. She really wanted to go to the top bed and we tried to explain to her that Miles was sleeping and that she wouldn’t be comfortable up here with him sleeping.

No explanation was good enough for her. She cried and expressed her disapproval so passionately she was sweating after a few minutes. Thankfully she calmed down and was finally asleep by 1140pm.

Looks like super late naps aren’t good for Ani either. On shorter driving days we need to come up with a plan to ensure she sleeps at least an hour earlier in the afternoon so she doesn’t crash after 5pm.

But that’s something to think about tomorrow. We are exhausted.