Rebecca M. Douglass, Author

Somehow the computer is trying to tell me that this is Saturday already. I guess it may take a while for me to get back to knowing what day of the week it is! I also found that I never edited these photos, so it was more work than expected to put together even this quick and dirty photo post. Hope you enjoy it anyway! Our trip to Nelson Lakes National Park was a 2-night, 3-day outing pulled together somewhat at random as we needed to get out of our Christchurch rental (it was a long-term AirB&B rental, but at the time we booked someone else already had those days). We found a description of the Angelus Hut hike somewhere, it looked good, and we were able to book it, so off we went. The drive up from Christchurch was fairly long, so we didn't try to hike that  day. Instead, we booked into a site at the DOC (Dept. of Conservation--kind of like the US Forest Service) campground at St. Arnaud on Lake Rotoriti. Weather and sand flies were both mild enough to allow for outdoor cookin...

Before I start with the photos, just a reminded that this week (or next) is #Fi50 –-Fiction in 50 (words). The March prompt is “Whenever.” Have at it, wordies! Also: I apologize for the wonky fonts. I can’t seem to clear them out and make it good, at least not with the iPad. Skip the text and enjoy the pictures :) Background: My husband and I and our 21-year-old son are spending several months traveling and tramping in New Zealand. We arrived on the South Island Dec. 28, 2018, and spent January hiking like crazy with Dave’s brother and his wife, before sending them home and settling into a home base in Christchurch, allowing me a bit more time between adventures to get some blogging and writing done! I’m posting photo reports on our major tramping trips. Rees-Dart, Part 1 (Days 1-2) In two trips to New Zealand, I’ve tramped at least 10 different tracks, if you count all the trips of at least one night. Out of them all, I have to say that the Rees-Dart loop is my favorite. The scenery i...

It’s getting late and I don’t have much wi-fi time left, so I’m going to share just a few photos from my phone—sorry that the good ones aren’t off the camera yet (I haven’t had a chance to either use the laptop or figure out how to load them onto this iPad). My apologies also for the messed-up labeling. If I were better at HTML I could maybe sort it out, but I’m not. We have been having a pretty good time tramping on the South Island of New Zealand (well, except for Eldest Son, who got sick at the start of our first track, and is only just getting fit again). We were rained/sicked out of our Routeburn Track plan, instead staying 3 days in the same hut while he recovered. But we had a successful venture on the Hollyford Track, involving airplane, feet, and jet boat, followed by a lot more feet :) Saturday was the scenic highlight so far, for my husband and me, as we chose to return to the Routeburn from the east end, hiking to the high point and back in one very long day (it included ab...