Cambridge - Part Deux - The punting adventures

The River Cam runs through Cambridge. We went punting on this river along a section called "The Backs". It is so named because one can see the backs of the colleges. Punting is a fun but slow method of transportation. The punter stands on the back of the punt and pushes off the bottom of the river using a long pole to make the punt move forward. The pole is also used as a rudder to stear the punt. Normally tourists will hire (rent) punts on the river. Darwin College is situated on The Backs and has punts which members of Darwin can use. Kevin, who is friends with Greg and Chantelle, is a member of Darwin so booked the punt and punted for us. I like the word punt because it sounds both violent and cute so I will try to use it as much as possible.

This photo shows punts on the Cam River and the Bridge of Sighs which is a part of St. John's College. One can hire professional punters who will punt you around the backs using long punting poles. The tourist punters are usually very poor at punting so there tend to be a lot punt crashes on the river.

Bryan and Chantelle in the punt.

This is the Mathematical Bridge which is part of Queen's College. Stories that the bridge was held together without nails or other fastening devices are not true. The bridge pictured here is held together using nuts and bolts.

One of the hazards of punting is losing the punting pole. Although Greg, Bryan and I all punted, Kevin (the dude in the blue shirt) did most of the punting.