The short version of this French couple's story is that they sailed their yacht to Tasmania from France and after a few round-the-world voyages decided to call the island home.

Sorry, this audio has expired Bon voyage!

The long version details an incredible journey, encounters with storms blowing 160kph winds, Antarctic sailing adventures and the adoption of two Chilean children along the way.

Michele and Georges Meffre have called Tasmania home permanently since 1998, after more than 20 years sailing around the world.

The couple with children Sebastien, Lelia and adopted children Fabian and Oscar. ( Supplied: Michele Meffre )

France 1978: The adventure begins

In 1978 the couple sold their landscaping business in the south of France and bought a wooden yacht, the 1951-built Antares.

They departed France with their two children Sebastien, eight, and Lelia, six, on board the 12-metre yacht.

"One day we decided to sell everything and buy the yacht and with our two children and very little belongings off we went in the Mediterranean Sea," Ms Meffre told Joel Rheinberger on ABC Radio Hobart.

Ms Meffre educated the children at sea and she believed their exposure to new cultures and life experiences was just as important as learning from textbooks.

"The travelling opens the mind of everyone and you meet different people," she said.

"You have to cope with whatever is coming towards you, on a yacht nobody can help you.

"If you're sick, you have to look after yourself or if you have an accident, you have to deal with it."

The family arrived in Australia in 1979 and spent time in Cairns and Sydney.

By 1981 the family was given permanent residency due to an immigration amnesty and they secured work on the Gordon Dam project in Tasmania.

Oscar and Fabian in Cairns. ( Supplied: Michele Meffre )

Temporarily grounded in Tasmania

The Meffres intended to leave Tasmania and sail back to France but Sebastien, who was by this time a teenager, wanted to focus on his study so he could go to university.

He stayed in Tasmania with family friends, parting ways with his parents and sister but was able to contact them through letters and the occasional phone call.

In 1985 Michele and Georges sailed back to France, across the Indian Ocean, Red Sea and then Mediterranean Sea.

Michele and Georges Meffre spent more than 20 years sailing around the world. ( Supplied: Michele Meffre )

The biggest storm

Two years later, keen to see their son, they returned to Tasmania and rounded Reunion Island and St Paul by the 'roaring forties'.

They were battered by a storm while off sub-Antarctic islands.

The yacht was hit by 90-knot winds, the highest ever recorded for some of the islands in the region.

"It was the biggest storm we ever went through," Ms Meffre said.

"The boat was taking water everywhere.

"When we came to Hobart again it really needed a refit and we decided the boat wasn't strong enough to do what we wanted to do."

Rough weather off Cape Horn. ( Supplied: Michele Meffre )

When they arrived back in Tasmania they discovered Sebastien had just begun sailing to New Zealand with his girlfriend (now wife) for a gap year.

The pair decided to sell the boat and bought land at Ridgeway near Hobart's kunayni/Mount Wellington.

They returned to landscaping in order to build a house as their nomadic life had come at a cost.

"Money was always a problem," she said.

'Itchy feet'

The Meffre's yacht anchored off Easter Island in the Pacific Ocean. ( Supplied: Michele Meffre )

But after three years on solid ground, they realised their marine adventures were not over.

"We got itchy feet again," Ms Meffre said.

A French boat called Antarctica had docked in Hobart and was looking for a crew.

The couple left Tasmania again and sailed to Japan, where their daughter was on exchange.

They spent three months seeing Japan by motorbike then returned to Tasmania and sold their house.

Using the funds from the sale, they began building a new, tough aluminium yacht called Metapassion that could handle Antarctica.

"It was a very strong boat, exactly what we were needing," she said.

In 1993 it was finished, and they set off to Brazil, Argentina, Cape Horn and Antarctica.

Oscar and Fabian

Michele Meffre with her son Oscar in Antarctica shortly after they adopted him in Chile. ( Supplied: Michele Meffre )

Their initial plan was to spend a winter in Antarctica on their new yacht but while in Chile for summer they came across an orphaned boy called Oscar.

It put their winter plans on hold, and after several months they were able to adopt the seven-year-old.

"He jumped onboard with us after many papers and a lot of work," she said.

Under Chilean law, the family were able to take Oscar to Antarctica without breaching any visa conditions.

"He had no parents and he did not have a family name," Ms Meffre said.

Oscar's life changed significantly after the Meffres adopted him. ( Supplied: Michele Meffre )

Oscar joined the pair on an Antarctic trip and when they later returned to Chile to fulfil some legal requirements they adopted a second boy, Fabian, to keep Oscar company.



The boys met the Meffre family in France, before settling in Tasmania to start a new life.

Oscar now lives in Tasmania's north-west and Fabian lives in France.

Sebastien heads up the University of Tasmania's geology department while Lelia works at the Royal Hobart Hospital's emergency department.

A tour of Tasmania 'just for me'

Michele Meffre has sold her tour company and wants to go on her own tour of Tasmania. ( Supplied: Michele Meffre )

Michele and Georges travelled for almost 25 years before permanently settling in Tasmania.

"Even French people are amazed by the landscape, France is beautiful but there are millions of people," she said.

"In Tasmania you can relax, you can feel yourself.

"You have time to look around, and you can walk the whole day without meeting anyone and just be in the nature."

Ms Meffre will retire from being a tour guide at the end of the year and wants to spend time seeing the state's wilderness.

After 15 years of having a tour company catering for French visitors to the state, Ms Meffre would like to have her own adventures on the island, taking in smaller sights that don't make it onto a tourist's standard itinerary.

"I dream to have a tour of Tasmania just for me," she said.