Why?
We get asked why quite a lot.
Why buy a barge? But you love Australia, why leave?
I knew that I couldn't retire without a plan or an activity as I would grow bored. So I was looking for something that would work for us. I didn't want to move to the country like my parents did. And I love to travel. But I find travelling by car for long trips really exhausting. I had heard of people going for holidays on hired barges in France, and I thought this might be something both Howard and I would enjoy.
I brought it up with Howard in 2012, and he was convinced that this would be right for us from the first moment. He loves to fish, especially in inland waterways, and I am a keen photographer. We both like to cycle, and travel. So this looked to be an ideal idea.
It soon became obvious that we had different ideas. I dreamed of owning our own barge in France and Howard was imagining hiring a narrow boat on the canals of the UK.
I thought that we would be more comfortable on a wider boat. Also the weather and food are better in France, and the language and culture would be more interesting and challenging for us. Howard had childhood memories of narrow boats.
In 2013 we hired a canal boat in Burgundy in France for a week, and a narrow boat in Wales for 5 days. The decision was made - a barge in France it had to be.
Why buy a barge? But you love Australia, why leave?
I knew that I couldn't retire without a plan or an activity as I would grow bored. So I was looking for something that would work for us. I didn't want to move to the country like my parents did. And I love to travel. But I find travelling by car for long trips really exhausting. I had heard of people going for holidays on hired barges in France, and I thought this might be something both Howard and I would enjoy.
I brought it up with Howard in 2012, and he was convinced that this would be right for us from the first moment. He loves to fish, especially in inland waterways, and I am a keen photographer. We both like to cycle, and travel. So this looked to be an ideal idea.
It soon became obvious that we had different ideas. I dreamed of owning our own barge in France and Howard was imagining hiring a narrow boat on the canals of the UK.
I thought that we would be more comfortable on a wider boat. Also the weather and food are better in France, and the language and culture would be more interesting and challenging for us. Howard had childhood memories of narrow boats.
In 2013 we hired a canal boat in Burgundy in France for a week, and a narrow boat in Wales for 5 days. The decision was made - a barge in France it had to be.
But you bought a barge in the Netherlands. Why?
Before putting our plan in action we did a lot of research into barging and we met other barge owners and barge dreamers. And everyone said look for your boat in the Netherlands. You will get a better price and you will get better more reliable work done if you need any anything done to the boat, and at a better price - and everyone wants something changed. So we looked for boats anywhere but mainly Netherlands and France. It turned out we were rather picky. We saw many boats, mostly on the internet. And there was always a but. It's nice but ...
It happened that the boat we fell in love with was in Netherlands and the buts were very small or could be rectified. So we happily bought our boat in the Netherlands.
The canal networks in the Netherlands, Belgium and France connect so it would have been easy to take our boat straight to France. But we decided that, since we were already there we should have a look around. And we were glad we did. The Netherlands is delightful. And we loved it so much that instead of heading to France we decided to do a second season in the Netherlands.
Before putting our plan in action we did a lot of research into barging and we met other barge owners and barge dreamers. And everyone said look for your boat in the Netherlands. You will get a better price and you will get better more reliable work done if you need any anything done to the boat, and at a better price - and everyone wants something changed. So we looked for boats anywhere but mainly Netherlands and France. It turned out we were rather picky. We saw many boats, mostly on the internet. And there was always a but. It's nice but ...
It happened that the boat we fell in love with was in Netherlands and the buts were very small or could be rectified. So we happily bought our boat in the Netherlands.
The canal networks in the Netherlands, Belgium and France connect so it would have been easy to take our boat straight to France. But we decided that, since we were already there we should have a look around. And we were glad we did. The Netherlands is delightful. And we loved it so much that instead of heading to France we decided to do a second season in the Netherlands.
But Australia is beautiful, why do you come to Europe?
Yes Australia is beautiful, but it is very different to Europe.
So the first answer is history.
Australia was settled by Europeans in 1788. And Melbourne, where we live in 1835. The aboriginal people who lived there before then and were nomadic and there is little evidence of their civilisation anymore. In Europe there is a lot of history and amazing buildings from centuries ago. We find this really interesting, especially as we come from such a young country (from a european settlement point of view).
The second answer is inland waterways.
Australia is a dry continent/island. Although we are surrounded by water, there is not much of it inland. And there is certainly no infrastructure to support travel for thousands of miles along the inland waterways. Howard is an inland waterways fisherman, and we both would prefer the safety of inland waterways to travelling on the open sea. So being in Europe allows us to travel around, with our home, on the beautiful inland waterways.
And thirdly summer.
We can spend Australian winters in Europe and then Australian summers at home. Who wouldn't choose that?
Yes Australia is beautiful, but it is very different to Europe.
So the first answer is history.
Australia was settled by Europeans in 1788. And Melbourne, where we live in 1835. The aboriginal people who lived there before then and were nomadic and there is little evidence of their civilisation anymore. In Europe there is a lot of history and amazing buildings from centuries ago. We find this really interesting, especially as we come from such a young country (from a european settlement point of view).
The second answer is inland waterways.
Australia is a dry continent/island. Although we are surrounded by water, there is not much of it inland. And there is certainly no infrastructure to support travel for thousands of miles along the inland waterways. Howard is an inland waterways fisherman, and we both would prefer the safety of inland waterways to travelling on the open sea. So being in Europe allows us to travel around, with our home, on the beautiful inland waterways.
And thirdly summer.
We can spend Australian winters in Europe and then Australian summers at home. Who wouldn't choose that?