Hello and welcome to the latest blog from The Olivia Rose Diaries on May 26th 2023. I sat on deck, closed my eyes and listened. In the distance I could hear a cuckoo calling. Close by, hidden in the reeds, a coot was clucking in shrill annoyance at a duck that had strayed too closeContinue reading “Paradise found”
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Crossing borders
Hello and welcome to the latest blog from The Olivia Rose Diaries on May 19th 2023. Looking back for a moment, we left France on May 2nd and cruised into Belgium, crossing the border almost without realising that we had done so. By chance my eye fell upon a sign for the Douanes, the FrenchContinue reading “Crossing borders”
A week of wonder and despair
Hello and welcome to the latest blog from The Olivia Rose Diaries on May 12th 2023. Belgium may be renowned generally for beer and chocolates but in the boating world it has a reputation for boat lifts. In our first week in the country we were fortunate enough to have the Strepy-Thieu funicular vertical boatContinue reading “A week of wonder and despair”
Guided tour to Olivia Rose part 2 and Belgian flower power
Hello and welcome to The Olivia Rose Diaries on May 5th 2023. As you can see from the picture below we are finally on the move! This shot was taken on our first night, moored up outside a marina at a little town called Péronnes on the Nimy-Blaton canal in southern Belgium. And without furtherContinue reading “Guided tour to Olivia Rose part 2 and Belgian flower power”
City people and two new books finally published!
Hello and welcome to the latest blog from The Olivia Rose Diaries on April 28th 2023. We took ourselves off to Lille on the train this week for a day out. We get quite excited about excursions like this, but within half an hour of being in a city we start to feel a strongContinue reading “City people and two new books finally published!”
The annual guided tour of Olivia Rose
Hello and welcome to the latest blog from The Olivia Rose Diaries on April 22nd 2023. We’ve arrived! And Olivia hasn’t sunk which is always a relief. We’ve been back four days and it has been a busy time as it takes a while to turn her back into a home again. We drained downContinue reading “The annual guided tour of Olivia Rose”
Clickety-clack – we’re heading back
Hello and welcome back to the latest blog from The Olivia Rose Diaries on April 16th 2023. This will be our last weekend in Le Shack until the autumn. We are heading back to Olivia Rose. On Tuesday we take the train from Tarbes in the bottom left corner of France to Valenciennes up inContinue reading “Clickety-clack – we’re heading back”
To Biarritz on a bike – Part 2
Hello and welcome to the latest blog from The Olivia Rose Diaries on 31st March 2023. We have been following the Adour River since we left home and it has for the most part been quite a small waterway. Closer to the Atlantic, it turned into a much bigger affair as you can see fromContinue reading “To Biarritz on a bike – Part 2”
Travelling light – to Biarritz by bike
Hello and welcome to the latest blog from The Olivia Rose Diaries on Saturday 25th March 2023. We’re on our way – taking a week to cycle a 400 km round trip to Biarritz and back. There is an art to travelling light. I’ve never had to do it as we’ve mostly travelled with ourContinue reading “Travelling light – to Biarritz by bike”
A new way of living
Hello and welcome to the latest blog from The Olivia Rose Diaries on March 17th 2023. We have now reached the milestone of one whole week living without a car and it has been a fascinating experiment so far. It might sound extreme to describe it as a new way of living but in realityContinue reading “A new way of living”
The Olivia Rose Diaries 