Cruising - Travels with Verne and Roy

Easing into Summer 2019: Moissac to Montech, 12-21 June

Summer itinerary; travel travails; party people; broken bones; fetching the Twingo; music in Montech

Summer plans

So, after two months in Durban, what’s on the cards for the next four months in France aboard Karanja? Nothing hectic, it must be said. We’ll start the cruising season by heading eastwards along the Canal de Garonne to Toulouse, and spend a week in that lovely city. Then we may continue along the Canal du Midi to Castelnaudury for a few nights, before retracing our steps back to Montech. There, you can join the Canal de Montauban, which takes you to – you guessed it! – Montauban.

Flashback to August last year, aboard Karanja on the Tarn River

Viking Sun Cruise: Sydney to Durban – Part 4, the Three M’s

Mauritius, Madagascar and Mozambique – how exotic they sound! And after eight days of prolonged pampering at sea, we were itching to go ashore at Port Louis.

#1 Port Louis, Mauritius

It’s only a four-hour flight to Mauritius from Durban, so it may be surprising that this was my first visit to this African island.

Berthed in Port Louis, Mauritius – and taking on fuel from that bunker barge alongside us

Viking Sun Cruise: Sydney to Durban – Part 3

From Perth’s port of Fremantle, it’s eight straight days at sea to Mauritius. Roy had been looking forward tremendously to the many sea days on this cruise – around 15 in total – and he wasn’t disappointed.

What can one say about eight days at sea? On Day One, the prospect seems endless… endless in a good way, if you’re a hardy sailor such as Roy; but if like me you’re already popping the Kwells and calculating whether your stock is sufficient to last all the way to Durban, it may not be an unalloyed delight.

Here’s how the Indian Ocean should (but doesn’t always) look

That said, after a couple of days of wind, high swells and general queasiness, I’m happy to report that the sun came out and the Indian Ocean unruffled its feathers, settled down and suddenly turned the mesmerising shade of blue that it should be.

Though we liked the idea of Viking’s “included tours” at each destination, meaning you don’t have to spring for the generally pricy optional excursions, it must be said that some were better than others.

#1 Hobart, Tasmania

Our Hobart tour started off abysmally with a young guide who was perhaps paralysed by nerves. Fortunately, driver Lindsay quickly picked up on the simmering discontent and took over the microphone from her after the first stop.

Viking Sun Cruise: Sydney to Durban – Part 1

After three months with the family in Perth WA, how comes it that Roy and I are indulging in such an extravagantly long cruise?

Well, my Chief Planner of Travel & Leisure found a ship that could take us from Australia to South Africa – the Viking Sun would be docking in Fremantle port during the 28-night Sydney-to-Durban leg of her Miami-to-London world tour.

Just one leg of Viking Sun’s 2019 World Cruise itinerary: Sydney to Durban via Hobart, Geelong, Adelaide, Albany, Fremantle, Mauritius, Madagascar and Maputo

Summer in the City

Full to bursting with stuff to say, it was high time for me to meet up for a chat with my friend Susan in Perth CBD.

Le Kiosque de l’Uvarium, and au revoir to Moissac

After almost four months on our Dutch replica Piper barge “Karanja”, cruising the Canal de Garonne and enjoying our home port of Moissac, it’s almost time to fly south for the winter. Before we go, here’s a tribute to an interesting local restaurant with a unique heritage – Le Kiosque de l’Uvarium.

It’s located literally three minutes’ walk from our mooring, on the esplanade that leads along the bank of the Tarn river to the Hôtel Le Moulin.

Promenade along the river Tarn, leading to Hôtel Le Moulin

Wild-mooring on the Tarn with “Artemis”, 20-23 August

It’s been a hot summer, and I’ve been dying to swim. Officially, you’re not allowed to swim in the Tarn River. But there’s a way around this: you can wild-moor your boat in a spot where no-one is looking.

That’s what Roy and I did for a couple of days – we on Karanja and our Dutch friends Jack and Sanne on their beautiful, 124-year-old Dutch barge, Artemis.

(I’d like to say they invited us to join them, but that wouldn’t be entirely accurate. Rather, they didn’t say no when we invited ourselves.)

Moissac Boat Festival, 10-12 August

This was the third edition of what is locally known as the fête des plaisanciers, organised by popular couple Tony (Aussie) and Rita (Swiss) from Kanumbra barge. They were about to leave Moissac after nine years here, and what a send-off it turned out to be!

Day One

The three-day programme was launched at 3pm on the Friday with registration of the boaters who wanted to take part in the flotillas planned for the Saturday and the Sunday, followed by live music.

Duly registered and name-badged, Roy seems utterly carried away by the music, along with Louisa and David (“Tesserae”), plus Terrie and Phil (“Mr Pip”)

Fontet to Moissac: 25 July – 7 August

Un été caniculaire; Le Farniente Fourquais and the mineral man of La Fallotte; of fish that wriggle in Buzet; sweltering in Sérignac, broiling in Boé and grilling in Golfech

This has been un été caniculaire, as the French put it – not a summer heatwave, but a full-on heatwave summer.

Even the sunflowers are drooping in the heat

Fortunately, we were in no hurry. With no agenda but to be back in Moissac in time for the 10-12 August boat festival, or fête des plaisanciers, we could take it easy.

On our last day at Fontet base de loisirs (or leisure base), I was lolling around after a swim in the lake when Tui arrived, bearing friendly Kiwis Lindsay Sweeney and Vicki Ritchie. Drinks aboard Karanja were clearly in order.