Pitufa.at

We always like to think that all cruisers are reasonable, environmental friendly, nice people. Well, they are not. Two days ago we moved to the airport anchorage and anchored in 3 m depth on the shelf where we can see the bottom, know that we are nicely settled in sand and only need 20 m of chain. Our next neighbour was far away, the French… Continue reading »

While Pitufa was anchored alone off Marina Taina, the French catamaran Noee swang into her and scratched her paintwork. When our friend Adrian (who did a great job taking care of Pitufa while we were gone–Adrian Pataki who runs Diesel Clinic in Taina, call him when you need someone to look after your boat!) confronted him, he just called him names. We also tried to… Continue reading »

Travelling in times of Covid is complicated, requires lots of organisation, paperwork and gave us one adrenaline rush after the other… First we had to beg the Haute Commissariat to accept our reasons to travel (we only got the okay for the return flight when we were already in Austria–quite exciting…), then there’s a form for the folks from quarantine (non-vaccinated travellers need a special… Continue reading »

Going through pictures of Leeloo and all those happy memories I thought that Leeloo’s many fans around the world would probably like to see more about the unusual 21 years our beloved kitty accompanied us on our travels. “On velvet paws towards the horizon” will soon be available on Amazon–I’m working on it!

Thanks guys for all the good reviews! It’s great for me as an author to know that people are enjoying my stories… No complaints so far Richtung Horizont — Available as paperback and e-book on Amazon. You can order it here.

In order to promote our book I wrote to some TV and radio stations in Austria, not expecting much–and was veeeery surprised when quite a few were interested. Pitufa’s crew will be on ‘Oberösterreich heute’ on Saturday at 7 pm and talking for half an hour in the ‘Linzer Torte’ (Radio Oberösterreich) on Sunday at 9 am. I’ll post internet links once we get them!… Continue reading »

Today we are driving from Upper Austria to Graz. Drinking lots of water is generally healthy, but not a great idea when you’re on a highway… Finally a service station, by now it’s a full emergency, I grab a mask, run to the entrance –and get stopped by a smiling lady in a dirndl dress. No negative covid test, no entry, she informs us friendly,… Continue reading »

Our travel book has started selling on Amazon, now we need some reviews to encourage other buyers… If you’ve read the book and enjoyed it (which I hope ) please leave a friendly review on Amazon!

Yesterday I had some appointments in town and did my runs between different locations by thumb – hitchhiking works really well in French Polynesia, especially when you hold up a sign where you want to go. I got chatting with a very nice Polynesian woman who picked me up, we talked about the Tuamotus, how we cruisers are blamed for pollution, harming nature and then… Continue reading »

French Polynesia is doing a good job to prevent Covid-19 from spreading. People generally still wear masks in shops and public places and remain cautious. Vaccinations are going on rapidly, in many places everybody 18+ can get an appointment for a shot. However, we have noticed that some cruisers think that as soon as they have their two shots they can drop all precautions, they… Continue reading »

Raiatea in the morning is quite often simply magical: the lagoon is glassy calm, the island is mirrored on the surface of the sea and soft, white clouds sit on the soaring peaks. The landbreeze that gently blows down from those mountains is incredibly fragrant–a mixture of flowers and pine scent. We usually use this cool morning air to do exercises on deck before it… Continue reading »

We’ve been hanging out around Raiatea and Tahaa (the two islands share one, big lagoon) for two weeks now. The infrastructure around these islands is very convenient: 4G internet, little supermarkets everywhere that get stuff from the supply ships several times a week, but sell also local produce. The nicest way to get locally grown fruit and veg is to walk down the coastal roads:… Continue reading »

We quite often criticise how little untouched wilderness remains here in French Polynesia and the lack of efforts by the government and other organisations to protect the environment. We complain about locals who still hunt turtles and collect sea bird eggs and blame a lack of education and awareness. Yesterday we read on the Austrian News that the fishermen and fisherwomen there have finally managed… Continue reading »