February 2016 - New Zealand - Wanaka & Kidds Bush & Drives

From Cromwell, we took just a bit of time to find the necessities like a trash station and water station. 

Then we were off and running - to Wanaka!

Again, stunning! 

This entire country is breathtakingly beautiful! 

I remember we picked up some of the best chocolate milk we had ever had here. Amazing! 

And, we ate at this totally amazing cafe with such fresh, delicious food called Kai Whakapai Cafe and Bar. 

After lunch, we spent some time playing by the lake. It was windy, so the little waves were lapping up on the shore. There were plenty of birds to chase too!

Beau practiced his conducting skills!

After that, we took this totally gorgeous drive along the lakes to Kidds Bush Reserve to camp for the night. Our pictures can't even capture how beautiful and varied the drives were. 

This was another incredible spot! 

We set up the camper sort of nestled among some trees.
It was very rustic and basic with just bathrooms available. 

But, the scenery was breathtaking. We played and played in the rocks and by the water. Sunset was gorgeous. We cooked in the camper that night, and loved every minute. 

There was a little bit of naked play time!

How we love our uninhibited boys!!!

Lewis busied himself making some sort of stick fort.

Love this little baby!

What a spot for dinner!

Mommy cooking in the van!

 Lewis was keeping a journal for school. We took our trip over Chinese New Year, which helped. But both boys still missed a good couple weeks of school for this! In order to keep up the academics, Lewis kept a journal that he illustrated and then shared with his class after we got back.

We slept well. 

Until Mike and I had a very early morning wake up call from David. More of a middle of the night wake up call. I nursed him and put him back to bed, and we decided to go! Our goal was to take quite a long drive up to Fox Glacier where we had set up a helicopter ride on the glacier the next day. Since it was such a long drive, and there was a bit of bad weather coming in, we felt like it was a little miracle that we were up so early and could get on the road. So, for the first (but not the last!) time on this trip, we climbed into the driver's cab and took off down the road while the boys slept in the cab above us and David slept in his crib tent on the table behind us. Not quite legal we know, but such a perfect set up! 

Sunrise was so peaceful and lovely!

Once everyone woke up along the way, we got them strapped in, and finally stopped for a break. We took a little walk along a river bed. On many of the beaches or river areas, people build rock sculptures. We loved this! It's such a beautiful way of humans adding to rather than detracting from nature. The boys and Mike contributed some sculptures before we took off. 

We stopped at another area along the way to see a waterfall.
As a family, we skipped over a few rocks and explored the river, but it got a bit too much with little David, so we headed back. Mike really wanted to try to get out to the waterfall, so he tried to jump over the rocks to get there. In the process, he lost one of his flip flops. A huge disappointment. Not only to lose it, but also because we certainly weren't around shops where you could find men's shoes or flip flops on this trip. He was quite frustrated and really wished he hadn't lost it.

Many of the trees here are crooked because they're so wind swept!

We finally made it out to the West Coast.
It was gorgeous!
It reminded Mike of the Oregon coast. Really dramatic and lush at the same time.

We stopped at the beach to get out and explore a bit. The kids were sleeping and occupied, so we let them stay while Mike and I headed off.

Miraculously, we came across a flip flop.
Specifically a men's right flip flip that fit Mike.
Mike wears a size 13 shoe. It's not a common size!
It was such a beautiful tender mercy from the Lord. We really felt his presence throughout this trip, and felt his love in this simple act. Here, washed up on the shore, was a replacement shoe for Mike. It made us so grateful for his involvement, even in something as temporal and unecessary and frivelous as our family holiday and as Mike's shoes.

Suffice it to say, we have a testimony of family vacations!

The beach was pretty. Lots of branches and brush. Very rustic feeling. 

I loved this private moment and miracle with my darling husband, my love.