We have sold the house, bought an apartment, rented out said apartment, sold our second car, packed up our life and put it into storage and now in a couple of days we will fly away to the boat in Burgundy.
This year is different. Alan has retired and we will be away for almost six months. We’ve shrunk our possessions in New Zealand into a 70m sq apartment and a 3x3m storage unit. It’s quite liberating actually. On the other side of the world we have our 11.5m boat. You can’t fit much in there either!
We are flying on Singapore Airlines this year. One stop between Christchurch and Paris sounds amazing after the last three years of multiple legs and hours on the ground. Only 31 hours from wheels up to touch down. Sheer luxury. Well, that’s stretching it somewhat. No one looks forward to being jammed into cattle class with the screaming babies and smelly armpits of the masses but needs must. The halcyon days of business class are but a cherished memory.
But I am not complaining. We have worked hard to make this dream a reality. Three years ago we made a plan and set ourselves some goals. We started looking at boats online, narrowing down what we needed and what we wanted and our price bracket. We found a lovely English speaking broker and we started squirrelling away Euros when the exchange rate was good. We bought our boat last year and this year we have almost six months to cruise the French canals in a (very) leisurely manner.
I can’t wait 🙂
Stay tuned. I will be blogging about the ups and downs of this lifestyle we have chosen in all its glory. No doubts there will be mishaps and misunderstandings (with my halting French) but it’s should be a bit of a laugh!
I love hearing who has been reading and following along so please do leave a comment, question or suggestion. I appreciate it.
Cheers
Karen and Alan
canalboatdreaming 
Safe travels – off to Darwin ourselves tonight but only for a week – annual leave is very limiting!!
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Have a wonderful trip!
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Hi guys, was waiting for this post of when you were leaving for your canalboatdreaming!
Safe travels and love ready your well written blogs Karen.
Take care, Ros….
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Thanks Ros.
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Lots of pics please x
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Will do!
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Was wondering when you two would head out for another French adventure? Congratulations on Allan’s retirement. Can’t wait for canalboatdreaming issues to start pouring in. Mary and I will be taking our daughter with us in October for two weeks in the UK. First week will be on a canal boat out of Worchester Marina in Worcestershire . Check it out at http://www.ukcanalboathire.com . Guess I will be the ‘skipper’. Any hints you can pass along. Our second week we will work our way North to Scotland then home. Will celebrate our “50th” anniversary in October, 2015. Seems like only yesterday I found this beautiful NAC flight attendant in Christchurch when I was topdressing out of Rangiora. Life is good with us, taking Mary with me in September this year in our Super Cub to the back country of Idaho for 5 days of remote lodge staying. This will by 6th summer to do this and Mary’s third.
I keep up with Hank in Queenstown and Malcolm in Rangiora. Hank is doing well with Air Milford and has a fleet of [2] Cessna Caravans, [1] Cessna 185 and [1] Cessna 206. As you know, Morgan Price is a Captain with Cathay Pacific and married to a Canadian girl. All the best. Lee
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Greetings Lee.
Congratulations to you & Mary on your upcoming 50th anniversary & what a great way to celebrate, a cruise on the English Canals. Checked out the website, those narrow boats are quite different from what we have, but are very cool. I’m sure you will love it. The only advice I can think of is to take it slowly & enjoy meandering along between good pubs & eateries! Hopefully we may get to yours sometime soon the super cub trip to Idaho sounds wonderful.
Cheers, Alan & Karen
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Thanks for joining us last night. We wish you a fabulous season and look forward to following your blog. Lloyds resignation has been sent so maybe next year we will be able to meet up with you. All the best xxx
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We would love to see you! Thanks again for such a lovely dinner last night. Great night.
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Well done nearly on yr way..
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Hi Karen & Allan, Reading your blog gave me a real thrill, Congratulations, taking the step to retire & head away on new adventures is very exciting. I will look forward to reading your blog as your cruise progresses.
As it happens Michelle & I are progressing down exactly the same canal. I retired last year, we headed to Europe to explore, sail & go canal boating in France for 2 weeks.
We loved it & over the last year I have also been checking out boats on line with the intention of buying a canal cruiser as our European home.
On 3rd June I fly out to look at boats & hope to find the right boat. Michelle joins me in early July to start the next phase of our lives. I will be in St Jean de Losne at H2o in June &
would love to compare notes about “The right boat” if you are in the area.
Looking at your intended cruise route, we cruised from Louhan to Pontailler sur Saone last year & had a fantastic time.
Once again congratulations, enjoy, love it when a plan comes together.
Regards
Graham & Michelle
Auckland, NZ
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Hi Graham and Michelle. Thanks for reading. It sounds like you are on a similar path to us. It’s exciting, isn’t it? I think we will be in St Jean de Losne in early June. We are at Blanquarts so come over and see us. We had a very helpful boat broker if you are interested in his details let me know. Good luck!
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I will look you up when I arrive, probably 2nd week of June. Yes I would appreciate getting the name of your broker.
Thanks
Graham
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If you let me know your email address I can email you the details.
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E-mail address is graham.r@hotmail.com. Thank you having good contacts helps. It would also be interesting to hear about what you thought was desirable in your boat?
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Bon voyage and safe journey. We have a map at the ready and are looking forward to experiencing it all vicariously through your fantastic blog. Go well x
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Thank you!
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Enjoy a well earned trip, keep in touch, rely enjoy your emails, Bon Voyage
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Have a wonderful trip guys. Am looking forward to reading your posts of your travels. Take care and best wishes. Polly
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Thanks Polly!
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