Wednesday 24 August - work, Aussies in Moissac, dinner with Dick and Carol


Wednesday dawned cloudy and rainy, so I spent most of the day on board working on data analysis for the Mackay travel survey. Such days proved how possible it is to get lots of work done even when on a barge in the south of France! One of the advantages is that at the end of the working day in Australia, staff in the Melbourne office can send me data and/or questions which will arrive early morning in France. I can then work on that during the day and send my replies late at night, which will arrive in Melbourne at the start of the next working day - a 24-hour office!.  

Late in the afternoon, we heard a greeting from a new boat cruising into Moissac port. Turned out to be Zee Otter, which we had seen in April in Castersarassin, when we were taking pictures of barges for sale for Bruce and Anne. Zee Otter has a unique look in that they have retained the external appearance of a working barge with a tarpaulin over the cabin, while inside it has been fully converted to a live-aboard cruising barge. Later that day, a knock on the door of Kanumbra introduced us to Peter Vizzard and Judy Lynne, an Aussie-USA couple from Zee Otter. They were a very interesting couple, who used to run several hot-air balloon companies in Autralia (including in the Yarra Valley near Taggerty), and who held a number of World and National ballooning titles. They were also involved with tree-farming, having bought a property with a plantation in Tasmania. We spent quite a while chatting with them. Later that evening, we again caught up with Dick and Carol and had dinner with them at the local pizzeria (the Sunbeam Cafe).