Articles by Verne Maree

Born and raised in Durban, South African Verne is a writer and editor. She and Roy met in Durban in 1992, got married four years later, and moved briefly to London in 2000 and then to Singapore a year later. After their 15 or 16 years on that amazing island, Roy retired in May 2016 from a long career in shipping. Now, instead of settling down and waiting to get old in just one place, we've devised a plan that includes exploring the waterways of France on our new boat, Karanja. And as Verne doesn't do winter, we'll spend the rest of the time between Singapore, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand - and whatever other interesting places beckon. Those round-the-world air-tickets look to be incredible value...

What’s in a Name? – Naming Your Boat: Part 2

So much for fellow Piper-boat owners. Here are the stories behind the naming of a few other boats we know.

According to Claire Jensen (from Happy Chance), cruisers* often have “sort of baby boomer names that are often about money – names like Grin and Tonic, No Riff Raff, Oy Oy Saveloy, 50 Shades of Bray or Pimms O’Clock – especially the gin-palacey ones.”

*Cruisers are those white fibre-glass boats, sometimes less-than-affectionately dubbed “yoghurt pots” by those who prefer something with a steel hull that’s a bit more solid (and perhaps more stolid, too).

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What’s in a Name? – Naming Your Boat: Part 1

If you were to get a boat, what would you call it – and why? Naming a boat is a very personal thing, and it can be quite revealing. In celebration of being back on our Dutch barge, Karanja, for the next five months, here’s what other Piper Dutch barge owners told me last summer.

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Durban Curry, So Much of Flavour!

As we brush up on our French vocabulary and dust off our boat shoes, there’s one last thing to do before we head for the French canals – indulge in some real curry, and to us that means Durban curry.

It’s been going for about 25 years, but Impulse By the Sea Indian restaurant at Tinley Manor Beach, about 50km north of Durban, is still somewhat off the radar – except for those in the know, of course.

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The Art of Potjiekos

So, who won the annual potjiekos* competition at The Dunes** this year? It took place only last Sunday, and though winning seemed important at the time, I really cannot remember.

*Literally “small pot food”, potjiekos, or simply potjie – pronounced “poiki” – is quintessentially South African. The traditional potjie itself is a three-legged, black cast-iron pot that comes in a variety of sizes.

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Back in Singapore: #2 Run to Orchard

Running is the best way to discover a city – or, in this particular case, to re-discover a city. Alas, I’m about to find out that after six months of being away from Singapore, I’ve lost my acclimatisation to extreme humidity. It’s murderous.

Acknowledgement of gratuitous illustration: I did take the above photo of the iconic Marina Bay Sands; but that was sometime last year, and you wouldn’t see it in the course of this particular running route.

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Back in Singapore: #1 Tiong Bahru

Fresh from three months in the Antipodes, we’re back in Singapore for less than a couple of weeks – better make the most of it! I’ve always fancied living in the hip Tiong Bahru district, and so jumped at the chance of staying at our friend Matt Chapman’s gorgeous flat in Eng Hoon Street while he was away. Thanks again, Matt!

Tiong Bahru is the city’s very first public housing estate – built in the 1930s by the Singapore Improvement Trust (predecessor to the HDB, or Housing Development Board). In recent years, this district has become one of Singapore’s trendiest and therefore priciest residential areas.

The Tiong Bahru Road block shown above is typical of this Art Deco estate.

Eng Hoon Street – back in the 1830s, it was Sir Stamford Raffles himself who made these sheltered shophouse pavements – or “five foot ways” – mandatory, to provide shelter from the tropical sun and frequent downpours
Just beyond the Block 55 bus stop in Tiong Bahru Road, here’s another row of typical shophouses, predating the Art Deco ones that the district is so famous for

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Abalone for Breakfast?

It was another of those perfect mornings down at the beach – the infamous Perth wind hadn’t yet sprung up – and there they were again: hundreds of Chinese men, couples and families streaming down the footpaths through the dunes to the sea below.

They seemed to have appeared out of nowhere, and they were clearly on some sort of mission. The sea wasn’t especially cold that morning, though it can be here, and many of them were kitted out in full wetsuits, plus snorkels and masks.

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Noordam Cruise – 14 days from Auckland to Sydney

What can I say about our 14-night cruise from 14-28 February on Holland America Lines’  Noordam? First of all, thank you, Roy, for organising it all and presenting me with the tickets as a fait accompli on my birthday in January.

Have you cruised? Did you like it? They – whoever “they” are – say that there’s a cruise for everyone. You just need to choose the right ship and the right voyage for you.

Boarding the Noordam in Auckland

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NZ South Island, Wanaka – Could you live there?

“Almost no one here actually comes from Wanaka,” says our friend Ayse. She and Richard moved to this beautiful spot with their three kids (10, 12 and 13) just over a year ago, after 14 years in Singapore. She’s a Brit (of Turkish/Kurdish extraction) and he’s a Kiwi from Nelson.

Richard, Ayse and Roy at the place on Lake Wanaka “where everyone takes pictures”

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NZ South Island, Queenstown

I’d been speaking airily of us spending “most of February” in New Zealand, thinking we’d hole up at our apartment at The Oaks Club on the shores of Lake Wakatipu in Queenstown, South Island. But no – the apartment was only available for the second week of February, having already been booked out by the agents for the rest of the month.

Some things have changed since we first visited Queenstown in 2006. Not our awesome view over Lake Wakatipu; and my run along the lake path – either turning right to jog the couple of kilometres to town, or left to Frankton – is still as lovely as ever, though the number of cyclists seems to have increased tenfold.

Looking across the Frankton Arm of Lake Wakatipu, Queenstown – i imagine waking up to this view every morning!

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