First Thing We Were Out,

into a warm, bright sunny day,

shorts and summer tops, 

the order of the day, picking up Kai on the way we were off to Cambridge, 

a train to Herne Hill, then another train to Kings Cross, over the road to St Pancras, 

inside a part of the structure sweeping across the ceiling, 

in no time we were here, 

the concourse out side of Cambridge station,

where we booked our punt for a trip along the River Cam, 

tickets bought, £150 for a punt to ourselves, 

I had to take a photograph of the Citroen food van that always seems to be everywhere selling food, 

a part of the deal with the punt was a taxi to the river was included,

 

and here we are, 

looking across the road at some of the other punters, 

on to the bridge and a first look at a punt in action,

a quick pose from Diana,

and a look along the river, 

plenty of punts still waiting to be hired, 

looking across the road on the other side of the bridge, we will be there soon!

Diana and Kai were busy, 

taking photographs of the day, 

the station is that way, 

we made our way along the boardwalk, 

watching this chap, 

showing us all, 

how it should be done, 

we continued our walk to the punt station where we had bought tickets for, it was not the same company we used the last time we were here, 

we stopped by Byron's Bear, 

and admired the flower garden as we waited, 

this is the punt station, 

and here comes, 

our Captain for the trip, 

we were off, 

taking a leisurely cruise past the colleges that line the river, 

in the distance the bridge we were on earlier taking photographs, 

there were also a lot of bridges to pass under, 

we admired the vies of the historic buildings that the town is famous for, 

the girls snapping away, 

like this couple, 

you can hire your own punt for a few hours, we decided against that one, 

this is a little precarious, it is one thing to have the punter standing up, but when 2 or more people stand up the boat very soon becomes top heavy and unstable, 

what a lovely, peaceful relaxing way to spend the day, 

having said that there were a few bottle necks where other craft seemed to be in the way, 

soon sorted by our skillful Captain,

photographs over, 

it was time for Diana to help Kai in her podcast I think it is called,

it is all a tad too technical for me, 

this bridge should have a warning on it, 

I am guessing a number of inexperienced punters have hit their head on it over the years, 

coming towards us at first I thought it was a race, 

but it was a group that had hired 4 punts for a hour on the Cam,

I should say the Captain kept us informed about all of the collages and buildings we were passing, 

a bit of a,

bottleneck up ahead, 

not to worry, we were in safe hands, 

Diana and Kai as happy as Larry, 

who ever he is, 

on the right hand bank,

a nice display of flowers in a bed, 

the punts all back in order, 

to my eternal shame, although we were being informed, I have forgotten the name of this building, 

Diana snapping away, it is amazing the think as she is doing this here her family and friends in the Philippines are watching our progress, 

in the distance on the right, 

a flock of Canadian geese, 

we were soon passing under, 

the Mathematical Bridge,

amazingly there are only straight pieces of wood used in its construction,

the buttresses at both ends, 

the loads on the bridge and the bridge itself need to be strong at the ends as that is where the downward force is transmitted to by the bridge, 

it was near here that we made a 'U' turn to return to the jetty, 

meeting the group of four on the way, 

this is the life!

the girls' thoroughly enjoying the trip, 

as we neared this bridge, I really felt it was dipping in the middle, 

I thought it might be a illusion, but looking again, it defiantly seemed to have a dip in it, 

no worries with head clearance here, 

we passed the flower bed, 

this time on our left, 

our Captain, 

skillfully making his way past both professional and amateur punters, 

ahead of us, 

a slight contact, 

if you do want to hire your own punt, 

you can do it here, 

lots in stock waiting to go,

under one of the many weeping willow trees that line the river bank,

into the shade of the tree and out again, 

past another collage, 

and another bridge,

skillfully maneuvered through the central arch, 

mind your head!

Diana was still busy snapping away, 

as we approached the Bridge of Sighs, 

a few more punts in this stretch of the river, 

a lovely house/collage in the background, 

with it's own riverside landing, I am going to stop this post here, if you wish to see the rest of our day in Cambridge, please click the 'Older Posts' button at the bottom right of the page.