Well one sunny wednesday this month I got to try my hand at punting.. what is punting you may say? well google defines it as:
definition: An open flatbottom boat with squared ends, used in shallow waters and usually propelled by a long pole.
Cambridge has a long loch which hugs the university campus and grounds. It is a pictureseque as it is unusual. With sheep and cows bordering one side and the impressive kinds college on the other side..
Now maybe it was a bit of dutch courage ( work had paid for us to take this trip for team bonding and a bit of champagne was consumed prior to the sea faring cambridge adventure) but I decided to try my hand at punting..
I stood at the bow and used hte long heavy pole to push it along, andn unfortunately my penchant for being clumsy on land followed me onto the water.. the boat toppled and rammed many others, and many a wall and the sides of bridges, before the team finally found a natural rythmn.
Me at the helm with a paddle helping hte steering and my coworker at the other deftly manoveuring the pole in ways I could never do. in the middle was a co worker deathly afraid of freshwater and another enjoying a drink of bulmers while taking in the surrounds.. i was determined to beat the other team and was vicious in my pursuit of punting glory.. when we came alongside the competing team i saw their look of disbelief as i used the paddle to push them out of the way and ram past them.. my sense of competitiveness was suddenly taking control. Anyone who has seen me play netball will know what that means.. it means nothing is going to get in my way.. so i puffed and huffed and paddled our way to glory.. allbeit i rammed more than a few boats along the way who ended up running into the canal walls..
in the midst of this fighting of water powered wills, i did take in the surrounds. Cambridge is picturesque and charming, the campus grounds just encourage contemplation. You can see why so many great english artists and scholars have studied here. You just want to sit under the oak trees, take in the scenery and write a stunning piece of literature, or ponder the theory of relativity or something similar..
bikes seemed to be a popular mode of transport. in particular little bikes with wicker baskets in the front. They were everywhere, on side streets, parked by walls and buildings and they gave the place all the more charm.
At the end of punting when some of my co workers said 'gee you are quite the competitive spirit arent you?', and 'what muscle and brawn you have jess' and 'you are a lively little aussie sporter arent u? you looked like a seagoing mick dundee out there' that i realised maybe i had been a little bit to gung ho.. oops.. but they found it amusing if not charming, so close shave with there... my reputation stil intact. and most importantly no falls into the water or embarassing wet patches to regale you with either.. i was well behaved with the exception of the ramming and the sea battle on cambridge loch..
all in all a brilliant day out, i want to go back there to explore it more, it was just so wonderful and fun.. charming cambridge certainly has stolen a piece of my heart.. maybe one day i will finish a chapter of my book sitting under one of its many impressive and endearing oak trees.
til next time
jess
xx
