Bilbao Guggenheim Museum

Peter and I, and two friends from another boat, drove to Spain 2 days ago.  Yesterday, we went to see the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao.

Building was thrilling, but it was full of modern art...  and as Marshall Macluen once said, 'Art is anything you can get away with.'  I didn't understand or like the art at all.

Today, we are going to drive back to France via the northern coast of Spain.  Weather is cool and sunny.

Barge is officially owned by Jon and Di Rayner

Well, the new owners took the barge out of dry dock and down the canal. Money is in our bank account. I visited the barge yesterday and I was delighted.  The outside was 'touched up' with paint, and inside...  Di had a square coffee table in the middle of the living room, and she had changed the yellow sofa by using a 'throw rug' and new pillows.  It looked great.  They also already had their own pictures on the walls.  Overall, the ambiance was still warm and friendly and the barge has had a face-lift.

So we now well and truly have said good-bye to Zee Otter.  I have mixed feelings.  I will miss the life-style, but we are now planning new adventures around the world.  We are definitely going back to Brazil next year, as well as Argentina!

Next week we are driving to Boa, Spain to visit the Guggenheim museum.

The immediate problem, however,  is getting all of our stuff out of storage and back to Switzerland.

Money for barge NOT in bank yet!

Due to a series of hiccups, a bank holiday in England on Monday, and a National Holiday in France on Tuesday, the money has not been transferred as yet.  We are sure everything is OK, but now we have moved out of the barge, the new owners are living on her...  and we haven't been paid!  Wouldn't happen if someone was buying a house!  Oh well....  we live and learn.

Sun is shining and we had a beautiful lunch with wine on the back deck of Syracuse.  Then we both promptly went to sleep and had an afternoon nap!  Now I am up and after writing this little blog, I will start going through our things to reduce the 'stuff'.  I have 3 piles...  that which is going back to Australia, that which is going to Switzerland, and that which is going to 'charity'.  We hope to be able to pack our car and not have to purchase a trailer.

Final payment on barge is tomorrow

Well, we are going tomorrow for our final visit to the barge and to collect the last payment.

We are on a friend's boat at the moment...  they are from Tasmania and due to his illness, can't make it over to France this year.  They are putting the barge on the market and it has to be delivered from one port to another, a 3 day trip.  So we are slaving away (chuckle-chuckle) moving the boat down the canal!  How lucky can we get.  We leave our barge and walk onto another boat!

We will stay on this boat (named Syracuse) for another 2 weeks before gathering up all of our belongings from the barge (which are packed in boxes and sitting in another friend's garage in Toulouse) and taking them back to Switzerland.

Future plan is for us to buy a small trailer and I will drive our car and trailer behind Peter on the scooter, through the South of France, and then up to Switzerland.  We figure it will take a week.  We will go on smaller roads and only travel maybe 250 kms per day.  If it rains, we won't travel at all.  We will stay in Chambre d'Hotes along the way, the French equivalent to a B&B.  Doesn't that sound like good fun?!!

Very cold in France

Hi to all.  Sorry I haven't written but boy have we been busy.  We went from Hawaii, to the U.S. to visit my Mother, to Switzerland to pick up our car, to the barge to take it to Toulouse in the South of France.

The new owners, Jon and Diane Rayner, came with us from the port of Buzet to Toulouse, and now the barge is in dry dock at the wishes of the new owner.  A few things need to be done which are now in progress.  Peter and I are currently staying in a friend's apartment in Toulouse as the barge is un-inhabitable while they are working on it.  During the day, we are packing our things in trunks and boxes and suitcases!  We have to hire a trailer to take it all to Switzerland.

Internet is a bit of a problem in France.  Very expensive unless you are on a 12 month contract with a phone company.  Really nice that the apartmeny we are in has free wifi!!

We are well, but a bit sad at leaving the barge.  But one door closes and I am sure, another will open.

Hawaii and Volcanoes

Peter and I just spent 2 weeks in Hawaii.  We have visited the lava fields, an active volcano, and walked through lush forests.

The lava fields were amazing.  They looked like mud, but it was all black rock.  Here, I am standing where the lava nearly crossed the road.  Needless to say...   no one drives this road anymore.  The lava took out a village, but nearby, several houses were left standing...  and the people still live in them.  Imagine having this as your front yard!

We stayed with friends who have a beautiful house in Hilo. So fresh pineapple and papaya was on the menu everyday as well as gigantic avocadoes!

We also spent one afternoon in a mini submarine, looking at the underwater reef...  and another afternoon looking for whales from a sail boat.  We found a female whale with her calf...  all we saw was a giant flipper and a few tail slaps.  But it was fun.

Hawaii

We are on the big island of Hawaii, staying with friends in Hilo.  What a fantastic temperature, day after day.  Hawaii seems to be a very laid back place.

Leaving Sydney, plane aborted our take off on the runway due to a 'flap warning light' and we had to sit on the tarmac for 4 hours before they decided to cancel the flight!  They arranged for us to fly out the next day.  What a bore!

Off to visit the volcanoes.