We continue to stay at Boothaus Roll on the Zeuthern See and the weather has been very mixed. We have had glorious sunshine one day and thunderstorms and hail stones the next. We have spent the time cleaning the boat and getting ready to go home for “holidays”.

Boothaus Roll where we are staying

After the frantic pace to reach Berlin, life has taken a slower pace but at the same time we have done a lot of work on the boat, including painting the teak decks and fixing the scratches on the boat after the narrow French canals. We are enjoying being in the same place for more than one night and while we don’t speak German, it’s amazing the number of people who come along to have a chat with us or who talk to us as they swim by the boat.

Adrian walking on water as he cleans the boat

Yes, particularly in the morning, Germans seem to love to go for a swim. As they swim past our boat, they start to chat to us in perfect English. (I think word has got out about this boat that came all the way from Ireland!) Don’t forget ,since we started on the Rhine we have not seen another English or Irish boat – so we are a rarity.

We are off tomorrow to stay with Nuala’s friend Heike and her husband who live North of Berlin, an hour and a half train ride for us. Nuala has not seen Heike for over thirty years. They met when they were both au pairs in Paris over 37 years ago.

It’s a long time and they are bound to be different people now with the way life will have changed them. But I am looking forward to the visit.

Adrian has not perfected his walking on water skills yet – so he borrowed the marina punt

Then next Wednesday it’s off to Ireland for two weeks “holiday”. It will be great to meet family and friends and for me to visit my Rotary Club and Nuala the SVP offices.

It will be interesting trip for both of us and to see when we met people at home how the Gap Year has changed our thinking and their perception of us.

Photo of Nuala and Heike 37 years ago up in the boat

Nuala hanging out the washing- note the Waterford Tall Ships bag