There are lots of people in this great country of ours who call themselves Grey Nomads, my lovely wife and I have aspirations of being a couple of these. Most know what a Grey Nomad is but for those who don’t, it means 50-plus-year-old teenagers purchasing a caravan and travelling around Oz. I can’t wait to live that dream. 

So you purchase the van and vehicle and head off - but what if you put the cost of a van and a vehicle together (say 150K) and purchased a boat for that same amount? So instead of driving on the road, looking out on the ocean, you drove on the ocean looking back onto land?

Most vans for this adventure are around the 20-foot mark and this will get you a queen size bed, a bathroom with shower and toilet, kitchen and dining area, washing machine, and annexe.

Hypothetically, instead of a van and vehicle you purchased a boat, not just a small boat, something like a pre-loved 30-foot Riviera with a queen bed, a galley, a toilet and shower, a washing machine, a couple of diesel engines, a deck out the stern, nice and comfortable and you can live in it for however long you want, stopping wherever and whenever you want, stay as long as you want for minimal cost.

Is there really that much difference from van to boat? You have to service the vehicle, you have to service the boat; you drive the vehicle on designated roads not in a hurry cos you are not in a hurry, you drive the boat anywhere, not as fast as a car but you are not in a hurry. You park in free camping area, you whey anchor in a secluded bay, you park in a caravan park, you park in a marina.

So the possibilities of boat versus van are very similar in pretty much every aspect except if you want to head inland then you are buggered. But, if you are on a boat you get the added advantage of going fishing every day.

Like I said this is hypothetical, and I have not crunched any numbers doing either, it was something that just popped into my head (one of the thousands of things every day). What about a “caraboat” –  a cross between a van and a boat … and I wonder why I can’t sleep at night ….  all these weird and wonderful, but mostly just weird things, that just pop into my head.

I am writing this a little bit late because I wanted to attend the “carp” information evening on Wednesday. The people involved seemed very knowledgeable and everything presented was understandable, there are still a few things that need research before a fish is harvested, so I can’t see anything happening in the near future so for the time being. If you catch a carp, and everyone should be targeting these every now and then, just to try and reduce the population of them, dispose of it/them humanely and efficiently.