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Peter Franks & Susan Bothmann Joined: December 3rd 2008
Logged in: January 17th 2011
Logged in: January 17th 2011
Travel Blog Posts
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CS: The early morning was again rainy but it lifted soon enough to a sparkling, sunny day. IJ and CS went for a walk, and whilst admiring one of the loveliest and most kemp gardens yet seen we met the owner and Capitaine of the port who glowed at our compliments. Having learned we are Australians he mentioned Wallis and Futuna (two minute French protectorate islands in the middle of the Pacific which coincidentally CS has visited in an earlier life). It transpired, we learned through several phrases of broken French, that his son had once been stationed there as a gendarme. It seemed however that that was all our fine captain knew about our hemisphere. Chevroches is the epitome of a charming little rural village in the classic French style. It contained discrete but interesting ... read more
Photo 22
CS: Another bright day, but much cooler and CS suspected she saw a gloss of frost on the washing she and PP had carefully wrung out and hung out the night before. Our intrepid CJ and JJ did their usual early reconnoitre of our environs before the rest of us were awake and reported back during breakfast. PP felt ready to relieve Skip at the helm and JJ and EB undertook to ride the tow paths, JJ was happy to use the bike CS had purloined because of the gel-seat cover CS had brought and fitted thereto. Our plan was to head to Lucy-sur-Yonne because we had heard there was a farm close by which sold local produce. The fact it was known as Ferme de Misery would not deter us. One of our only disappointments ... read more
Photo 8
CS: The heavy rain abated yet again to develop into a lovely sunny but not too hot day. We took our time once CJ and JJ returned with fresh bread to enjoy the morning. CJ and JJ had also done a reconnoitre of the other side of the river and found an inn called Le Cheval Blanc. A good spot for elevenses. PP and CS then adjourned to the PO to post some blog entries. As always this proved a time consuming process - bring on high speed broadband, please. Meanwhile the rest of the crew sought out the produce available at the Boulangerie and Boucherie, including French 'pies' which we enjoyed for lunch. We eased into the adjacent lock preparatory to the 1pm opening and slid effortlessly onward through 6 locks to Chantel-Censoir. PP and ... read more
The Scurvy Crew
CS: Waking in Pregilbert we were ready to catch ourselves some fish dinners. We biked out of the village across the bridge to the Abbey grounds which have been turned into a fish farm. Armed with rods and a small container of sweet corn provided by the grinning attendant, who refused to suggest any clues about methods, we tried our luck in the ponds filled with fish. CS managed to hook a large trout almost as soon as the hook hit the water (how or why she will never know but it was a nanosecond after IJ had noted that she felt the whole human race would be annihilated before a trout took a hook with corn). Nevertheless the process proved slow (IJ also hooked a trout on corn) until we discovered the bait the French ... read more
Evening on the canal Nevernais
CS: Leaving Auxerre in the afternoon we backtracked down the canal to Bailly. Seven locks negotiated seamlessly, save for a minor crisis when the barge in front of ours decided to broadside just in front of the lock mouth because a blow-up lie-low had gone over the side. Not tied on, obviously, and not equipped with a line the mattress scooted across the water defying all owners' efforts to retrieve it. Meanwhile we, in a much larger vessel are tight in a narrow channel approaching the other with nowhere to go and two other barges are backing up because having come out of the lock their way is blocked by our 'friend'. Skip again saved the day and lie-low finally retrieved and stowed we proceeded into the lock. We had already had a problem with said ... read more
DSC00344
CS: Moulin Rouge on the outside, red whirlwind indoors. The decor is plush and universally red, from the wallpaper (what we could see of it) to the waiters' neatly fitting jackets. Our choice of the belle epoque menu was a good one since the four course meal was delicious and it assured us good seats and good service. When the entertainment first started as we were enjoying the meal, a man and woman tag team 'singing' popular songs, we gradually became a tad alarmed. The man in particular needed significantly more practice before he would have made it through 'I've got talent'. No need to fear, once the meals were done and the place was crowded to the rafters with the extra guests who arrived for the show, the stage was revealed and much more besides. ... read more
Journey's Start
CS: CS and PP made it comfortably to the airport Friday morning, braving heavy winds that had descended on Brisbane overnight. Check-in was predictably and straightforwardly slow and then we were tucked into a pleasant corner of the Qantas lounge for and hour or two. First leg to Singapore could have been better. The large noxious man in front of PP after having helped himself to the remaining exit row seat, reclined his seat, which appeared to be broken anyway, right into PP's face, where he left it pretty much the whole journey despite promptings from PP and every passing steward. This procedure tended to contradict one of CS's immutable laws (more about those later) in that she is usually the one who gets to sit behind the only jerk who takes advantage of maximum incline. ... read more
"ONCE AGAIN INTO THE BREACH, DEAR FRIENDS............." If you thought "cruising susan" and "pilate pete" had ceased to have puff and stuff for blogging you would be partly right. "It depends" as lawyers would say. We did stop telling you all about our adventures after our circumnavigation but that did not stop us going to Fiji, Vietnam, Spain, the British Virgin Islands and New Zealand since our last report. When the camera got mislaid after Fiji we lost the blogplot but now we are headed to Burgundy for another nautical (freshwater rather than marine) venture, so we thought it was time to revitalise the travel story. Barging (CS is rather known for that in some circles) is the plan. PP has cousins (lots of cousins) who turn out to be really splendid folk and we decided ... read more
Approaching Singapore
PP: 5th May 2009: Having left Jakarta (finally) at about 2 AM on the 4th May, we had an uneventful cruise northwards through the Java Sea between Sumatra and Borneo, clipped the South China Sea and to Jurong Port in Singapore from the east this time in. Again the "Captain for fine weather" scored well - the only rain was at night. Smooth conditions all the way. We arrived at the dock at 1430 hrs (same dock position as the last time, four and a half months ago) and waited two and a half hours for Immigration to clear us (tookthem a while to arrive at the ship). By that time I was anxious to get ashore as I had arranged (by 'phone while passing some Indonesian islands earlier in the day) to meet step-daughter Ella ... read more
For Craig - See We Did Save It!!
PP: 24th April 2009: Nothing much to see yesterday or the day before, apart from when we passed through the strait between Yemen and Djibouti. We could see both sides, but fairly barren. Then we entered the Gulf of Aden and ship security was upgraded. From there until past the island of Socatra (off the “horn” of Somalia) we are not allowed outside on deck, no lights showing outside at night (apart from minimum navigation lights) and regular reports to task force warship HQ. All eastbound and westbound ships are timed to be in various bunches within this area at similar times, and task force warships have helicopters for quick response if called. The watch on the bridge is trebled for the time being. We also had a drill the day before yesterday to ensure we ... read more
