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

Since all hope of a regular blogging schedule is lost, I'm going to work on this post and share it when I'm done, whenever that may be [as it happened, I finished on Thursday evening, so it really is a Friday post]. On the up side, I am back with a real computer, so no more of those horrid issues with the iPad. On the down side, transferring my photos from the iPad is an annoying process and has resulted in some chaos, though not, I'm happy to report, the loss of my edits. These photos are a somewhat random collection from our two months in Christchurch, including both views around town and from hikes and trips in the Port Hills and farther out on Banks Peninsula. One of the first things we did when we settled into our Christchurch digs was purchase a couple of second-hand bikes. Christchurch is a great biking town. Not only is it flat, but in the post-earthquake recovery they have made a point of expanding the biking infrastructure to make it easy, comfortable, and safe to

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

Time for another photo essay! This time, we're heading out on the Hollyford Track, in the second week of January.  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! The Hollyford is an interesting track, because you have two choices: you can do an out-and-back, including a 10-mile stretch along Lake McKerrow which is reported to be awful, with no views to redeem it, or you can get a flight in to Martin's Beach from Milford Sound and hike one way (there's another cheat, which we used, as you will see). Naturally, we chose the flight, and as we had two cars, we managed to set up a shuttle, leaving one at the Hollyford Trailhead and drivin