On being smitten and preparing for a hike.

Been a little quiet on the blog front this last week, and for good reason. I have just become a first-time Aunty. My sister and her partner have brought a beautiful little person into the world and I am quite smitten!

Her name is Hazel Jean, after our great-grandmother who I blogged about in my post for International Women's Day.

I had booked flights to go and visit last weekend, thinking that she would arrive in early March and she would be a couple of weeks old already. But she kept us all in suspense, arriving more than a week after her due date and after more than 30 hours of contractions for my sister. So I first met Hazel when she was only three days old and she is the most darling little thing.

I am so glad she is part of our family!

In other news, we have been madly preparing gear (but not doing much walking!) for our Larapinta Trail hike. I am planning to take lots of photographs which I will share soon. Hopefully the weather stays nice and cool here in Central Australia - it's stayed in the early 20s today which has been wonderfully refreshing.