From New Zealand Shores to European Waterways

The adventure of building and living aboard Kororareka

When we returned to the UK after many years of living in New Zealand, we had a clear plan: head to Pipers and order a narrowboat. We wanted a comfortable way to reconnect with the waterways we had missed and to settle into a slower, gentler pace of life.

But the conversation with Piper’s team took us in an entirely new direction. Rather than selecting from what was already available, we began talking about what we really wanted. Space for living aboard full-time. A boat that could handle rivers as well as canals. Something with enough presence to venture beyond Britain if the urge ever struck.

“We didn’t just buy a boat — we built a home and launched a dream.”

Building Kororareka

Those early conversations grew into sketches, plans, and choices. Room by room, we helped shape the internal layout. We debated galley fittings, picked out woods and finishes, and decided how the space should flow for day-to-day living. Piper’s craftsmen translated our ideas into reality with remarkable skill.

What emerged was no narrowboat at all, but a magnificent 65-foot Dutch barge. Solid, elegant, and designed for life afloat, she felt like ours long before her hull touched the water. When launch day came, we knew she wasn’t just a boat, she was Kororareka, our home and the vessel that would carry us into an adventure we could never have imagined.

A Testing Start

The Thames was in flood when Kororareka was launched, so our plans for gently learning the ropes and testing both the boat and ourselves had to be put on hold. Instead, we used the time to prepare in other ways, studying hard and taking our boating exams to ensure we would be ready to navigate safely through Europe.

When the waters finally eased, our first outing was anything but ordinary. The river was still fast and demanding, sweeping us along in a way that tested both our nerves and our seamanship from the very start. It wasn’t the calm introduction we had imagined, but it proved something vital: Kororareka was built with the strength and stability to look after us, even when conditions were less than forgiving.

That lesson gave us confidence for the next step, crossing the Channel to France. With equal parts trepidation and excitement, we set out. The moment we entered French waters, we felt it: Kororareka wasn’t just a boat for Britain. She was our passport to Europe.

Six Years of Thrills (and the Odd Spill)

Those six years afloat in France, Belgium, and Holland remain some of the richest of our lives. France offered endless variety: peaceful canals winding through vineyards, grand rivers sweeping past châteaux, and medieval towns that seemed to appear out of nowhere around the next bend.

Belgium’s lively towns and Holland’s beautifully kept waterways drew us further still. In the Netherlands, boating felt part of the national culture we were at home among hundreds of others enjoying life afloat.

Of course, there were thrills and a few spills along the way. Locks that didn’t quite go to plan, moments of head-scratching navigation, and the occasional scrape reminded us that adventure always comes with its bumps. But they only made the sunsets on deck, the markets in canal-side towns, and the friendships with fellow boaters all the sweeter.

Home Waters Again

After six unforgettable years, we brought Kororareka back to the UK. Life in a marina gave us the best of both worlds: the comfort of familiar shores combined with the continuing pleasure of living aboard.

Eventually, we decided it was time to let her go. It was bittersweet, but Kororareka rewarded us one last time, selling for more than we had paid to have her built. A fitting conclusion to her part in our story.

Reflections

Looking back, it’s extraordinary to think how a simple plan to buy a narrowboat turned into ten years of European adventure and a whole new chapter of life. By working with Piper to design Kororareka from the keel up, we didn’t just buy a boat we built a home and launched a dream.

To anyone wondering whether life afloat is for them, we can only say this: be open to the possibilities. You never know where the water might carry you.

Stuart & Tina