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One maxim of travellers is to leave a place as you found it, but inn operators Rob and Annemieke Gulmans are leaving Sussex a more vibrantly colorful place.

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The couple arrived from Holland in October 2002 and was eventually instrumental in having stories of the area’s history painted on more than two dozen buildings throughout Sussex and Sussex Corner.

They came with business and lifestyle ideas in mind, not murals.

“We always wanted to start up a bed and breakfast,” Gulmans said, “and I’ve always had the idea I wanted to start my own civil engineering firm.”

The intent was to get the B & B up and running while building his firm, making use of his engineering degree and 13 years of civil engineering experience.

The first half of the plan worked beautifully. Within three years they’d renovated Jonah Place to a four-star facility and more than tripled their revenue.

Meanwhile they recognized Sussex as a candidate for a mural project like one they’d seen in Chemainus, BC, where murals helped revive the town after it lost its wood mill industry. The Sussex Mural Project began in 2004 with Rob as project manager.

The success of the mural project and the bed and breakfast was in marked contrast to the brick wall the couple hit when they began pursuing the second half of their plan.

Gulmans, 41, discovered he couldn’t get accredited in New Brunswick as a civil engineer and would have to spend thousands of dollars to go back to university for accreditation here. His European degree and civil engineering experience throughout the world weren’t recognized in NB.

“Basically that gives me no long-term future in Canada,” he said, adding it was his engineering background that allowed him to immigrate here in the first place.

The inn has new owners, but the couple leaves Canada with nothing but good memories, and vows to return as tourists in the near future.

“We’ve never been to Peggy’s Cove or Cape Breton or Prince Edward Island, so we definitely have to come back to enjoy the rest of Atlantic Canada,” he said.

En francais: Rob et Annemieke Gulmans ont retourné en Hollande après avoir demeuré et dirigé une auberge pendant plus de cinq ans à Sussex. Ils ont aussi été responsables du projet ayant mené à la création de plus de 24 murales historiques peintes sur des édifices communautaires.