Seven weeks to go – started packing

What to take?

This is a totally different form of travel – we are packing (sort of) for a new house, rather than five weeks touring. We need to take enough to keep off the sun, out of the rain and to be decent and good looking. However, it’s more important to take the items that we need to fit out Neo Vita.

We’ve also been very fortunate to have received a number of useful and thoughtful gifts for us and Neo Vita. These have to be taken as well.

So we have started to put things aside that have to be packed into our two new, huge, orange (Netherlands of course!) suitcases. Here’s a bit of a start today:

Our flags, a big Aussie one and a small pennant Netherland’s one – we’ll have to get the complement of each, as we need a big NL flag for the stern as we are Dutch registered.

Home food – teas, teapot and vegemite; preparing for France – spare moustaches and our french wine bottle opener; two computers – a Mac Mini for domestic use and a Windoze laptop for navigating; official uniforms – caps for the skipper and the crew; the important ship’s stuff – bell, whistle and compass; flash cards to learn the CEVNI regulations; our Dutch Barge Association stickers; the ‘Inland Waterways of France‘ book  with everything you needed to know about cruising in France, by David Edwards-May; and last, but not least, our copy of ‘Back Door to Byzantium‘ by Bill and Laurel Cooper, describing their trip from Calais to Constantinople by barge – in case we ever meet them, and can get it signed.

Whew – a lot of stuff – and a lot more has to be packed! We can hardly wait:

‘Hat tip’ to Harvey and Sandra Schwartz and their wonderful blog:

“We have a cardboard carton on the floor in the bedroom into which we toss items that have to return to France, including the boat keys. Harvey squats in the box from time to time, waiting patiently.”

Anything else you think we should pack?