Merivale

Today we woke to sounds of a heavy freight train roaring past our van! Our final freedom campsite in Arthur’s Pass was unfortunately situated across the road from the main train line that wound through the mountains. But still, the amazing forest around us and gentle patter of rain on the roof was amazing! Could get used to waking up like this every day. But sadly our time in our home on wheels was coming to an end. Today was the day we had to hand back the keys.😩 But, we still had a few hours before we had to do that!

We got up, did our usual morning routines and headed back up the mountains of Arthur’s Pass toward the incredible bridge of “Death’s Corner” stopping for coffee at the collage on our way. Deaths Corner road bridge spanned through the huge gorge at a very impressive angle. We got the classic shot of this bridge, James got attacked by a Kea bird, and we headed on back down the pass.

Luke and Nay had given us a list of cool things to check out on our way back to Christchurch. This included the amazing Cave Stream, a long cave with a flowing river running through it. You could actually walk from one end to the other if you were keen enough to get wet. We, however, were not, so we pressed on!

We were racing against the clock to get back to Christchurch with enough time to sort out the vans before dropping them back, so we had to admire Luke’s next suggestion of the Castle Hill Rocks from the car as we flew by at 100kmph. We did, however, pull over for one last stop before town... The Famous Sheffield Pie Shop... how could we not?!
Pies on board (including some frozen ones for Luke & Nay) we made tracks for Christchurch.

We arrived back at Luke & Nay’s and it was time to put our houses (on wheels) in order. We didn’t realise how much stuff we’d brought before we started stuffing it back into suitcases. It was a wild 20 minutes of packing and unloading before we headed back out to pump, dumped, and refuel one last time.
It wasn’t long before we rolled our relatively tidy vans back into the Wilderness depot. It was sadly time to say goodbye to our beautiful vans! They did their final checks, we did our surveys and then they shouted us a taxi back to the house. Until next time Wilderness. 👌🏻

We grabbed coffee at the local shops before settling in at the house. We commented on the spacious lounge room and how nice it was after a couple of weeks in the close quarters of the van. We stretched out and relaxed while we waiting for Luke & Nay to get home from work. It was great to see them again when they did get home. They whipped up some delicious wild venison and veggie burgers, coupled with a nice bottle of red, and followed by some amazing chocolate mousse. What a treat!
Wasn’t long before we’d had our catch ups, drunk our late night cups of tea and all disappeared to bed.

Looking forward to tomorrow’s adventures with our local tour guides but for now, it’s time to soak up the comforts of a warm, spacious, and stationary home 😊😴Read more