This week I finally went punting on the lake, after years of promises to myself. I loved it exactly as much as I thought I would and I am so excited to go again.
My friends Ayami and Wesley run the punting and this post will be as dedicated to adoring them as it is to punting. Here are some photos of them at previous Ballarat Tweed Rides. Check out Punting on the Lake on their website here.
I first met them many moons ago at the Ballarat Tweed Ride that I organise. Of course we get along because we have so many interests in common, particularly with tastes of things that are vintage. They are the sort of people who treasure slow style and culture that takes time and care. Not only have they come to many Ballarat Tweed Rides, but when I tested one in Bendigo they travelled all the way there with their dog Max (Max joined us on the boat for the day while we were punting). They have often travelled to Ballarat just to be part of photos for promotion of the Ballarat Heritage Festival and the Ballarat Tweed Ride. Last year they gave me a voucher to come to visit them punting and I promised myself I would make it before they closed their season for winter. And I finally did!
My best friend Mel and I hadn’t caught up yet for my birthday, so this was a great occasion to make an excuse to go out together. Most of my best friends are long-distance. I have two in Melbourne, two in Canberra and one in Edinburgh. The curse of friends that are far away is how few photos you get together over the years. Mel took a selfie of us later in the day and realised it was the first since her wedding day with her in her wedding dress and me in my bridesmaid outfit, that we had taken a selfie together. I also loved the chance to take pics of her and you’ll see a few throughout the blog post.
The lake was calm. The sun came out partway through our punt. Wesley, in his kind voice, told us all sorts of interesting things about the setting as moved around. We had an entertaining start to the boat ride of two swans copulating, and Wesley was able to remove any hilarious awkwardness that might come from that by sharing some knowledge about the way swans are observed on the lake for research and how the moment we were getting to see was important because it helps researchers know when to keep an eye out for swan eggs.
Wesley told us how the lake in the gardens actually used to be river, and that the lake was man-made. The gardens and lake are right near Punt Road, which I had never thought about before, but the road is named so because punting was originally how the river was crossed. Wesley showed us where the lotus blossoms grew on the lake, where the lillies were, all the autumn tree spots, and explained the ecosystem of the lake and what measures were in place to prevent blue-green algae.
We did a short 30-minute ride because I booked so late that only the shorter ones remained. Next time I’ll go for a longer one because the time flew by while we were enjoying ourselves. I can’t recommend visiting enough. I’ll be there at the start of summer when they start doing twilight rides with picnic tables in the boats for snacks.
Outfit information:
Dress is from ASOS and many years old
Hat is from Birds and Fresia on Etsy
Shoes are also from ASOS
Mel’s dress is from a brand we love called By Samantha, Melbourne
Darling Max slept all through our boat ride. He’s a shy, introverted dog who takes his time making friends. When we arrived back at the dock, he got very excited because a local woman who walks in the gardens that he had grown fond of came down to say hello and he hadn’t seen her in a while.
This is papyrus, which Wesley said was from the Nile. I don’t know if he meant that literally or to give us context of where papyrus comes from so I’ll ask him next time I talk to him. But papyrus was used to make one of the original forms of paper, which was called papyrus also, because of the plant it came from. You may know the term papyrus from my least favourite font, which is styled to look slightly ‘exotic’ and rustic.
See you next adventure.
-L
