'In our research we learned that there was "punting" available here in Christchurch. We had imagined the romance of a sharply dressed gent poling us along the Avon river in his flat bottomed punt. However when we saw the actual boat filled with other folks the romance wore off a little. But it was soon to return when we saw the we could rent a private boat and cruise the Avon on our own. We stepped up to the boat rental window and I asked to rent one of the larger size boats. It was much like a wooden john boat might be. It was a row boat and when I asked for a paddle to use he said "Oh you want a Canadian". I just nodded thinking that the Canadian must be some sort of paddle. Instead he brought out a 11 foot wooden canoe. It was beautiful and a perfect accompaniment to my beautiful wife, Leslie. The rental was hourly and we opted for a full hour not knowing if this was too short or too long. As it turns out it was just the right amount of time. We were warned not to go past the fourth bridge but I missed the first bridge. I was still getting used to the dynamics of this small canoe as we passed under the bridge. The sun was shining and the breeze was just a hint cooler so it was welcome as it came up along the river. There were the aforementioned punts on the water but also double and single kayaks and one tiny inflatable raft on the river with us. The raft was big enough for one adult. It had one adult in it as well as three small girls. We are not sure if it was Dad in there with them or the fun uncle but there was non stop laughter coming from all of them. We saw many ducks and ducklings along the way with two new "lifers" for the bird list. The Hammerhead was a small black diving duck and the Paradise Shelduck is a very large duck and a very fancy duck indeed. We paddled upstream past the fourth bridge, and were the only ones on the water at this point. That was when we tried to remember how many bridges we had actually gone under. Not being sure but suspecting that we had gone too far we turned around. We did not have cushions to sit on or back support to lean on so it was time to paddle back anyway. No time too soon as when we got back to the dock it was 59 minutes after we rented the canoe. So much fun and such a great location to be on the river.
A set of 8 people in the punt on the left and six people in the one on the right
A nice outrigger canoe, ocean ready
Kayaks for rent
Canada Goose
Looking in the boat shed I see the skeleton of an old wooden canoe
Not football
On the left was the row boat I first tried to rent and on the right was the canoe we used
An appropriate sculpture on the bank
The outfits for the punters
Bridge #1 or #2
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The Hammerhead
This willow tree was planted from cuttings from the willow trees that grow at Napoleons'' grave in St Helena
Goose goose goose
Forging ahead past the fourth bridge
The river is all our own
After we turned around we saw the fourth bridge in the distance
Three Hammerheads
Punters
He told us that we looked perfect in the small canoe
Loving this time on the Avon
Paradise Shelduck Male
Paradise Shelduck female
Ready for more
Or on second thought ready for some back support
Miss Leslie is ready too
The boat shed
Classic punt disaster
