05.01.07
Family & friends visiting!
So, when I work, I punt on the river. When I get visitors and I take a day off, I punt on the river! Me and the river are getting to know each other really well 
04.26.07
My first week of punting
Phew – it is easier to tell you which muscles are NOT hurting, because there are not so many of them. Ouch!
Everything hurts, from typing to laughing. Holding the pole and pushing it makes my hands and arms sore. I can also tell you for sure you are using your stomach muscles — I feel them all when I laugh and just when I move around.
4 days of work in a row in my first week as Chauffeur. I am proud of my survival. I have had fun and learned a lot about how it all works. I have had people from many different countries in my boat and I am enjoying that. I also made friends with many of my colleagues and we have a fun time together. I did not fall in the water. Not yet…
I don’t like the current, the wind, the muddy bits and the noisy ducks.
I love the people who are punting for the first time, I love the wind if it goes my way. It is great entertainment when poles get stuck in the mud and against bridges, especially if it is not mine, haha.
Most tours punted in a day: 4 (for me that means about 4 hours of punting – soon I will have to be able to do it in 45 min)
Highest tip: 5 pounds
Next day I work is Sunday — first time to work in the weekend. It will probably be busier.
04.20.07
What a test!!
I passed my test
I am now officially a ‘Chauffeur’ -Punting Tour Guide on the river Cam- and I start on Monday. I am working 5 days next week and don’t know how I will survive as I am already super sore after the one tour I did yesterday for my test.
For this test I had to just give my first ever tour to one of my bosses. So, a 12 person boat, with 1 person in it, who probably knows more about the river than anyone else and I was giving him the tour! Yes, I was a little nervous!
I think I gave a very entertaining tour, for all the wrong reasons though, haha. My first tour ever, phew. Pretty clumsy. I was reminded yet again how easy it is to get stuck between punts parked on the banks, under trees and bridges and behind other punts on the river.
I also discovered I am not very good at talking and punting at the same time, let alone remember all the information;
“On my right hand (stick out hand..don’t loose balance, hold on to stick, oops we are loosing speed quickly, punt on) you see Trinity college which was founded in, ehm.., 1546 by…..(pushing the pole, turning the boat, sigh, sweat)..founded by….eeehm…eehem. (Shit, can’t remember, just talk on) The college is known for…ehm..bla bla bla”
I remembered so many names BEFORE I gave this silly test tour, all these Queens and Kings, designers of bridges and founders of colleges. Of course they are all named either William or Henry, Elizabeth or Margaret, which makes it very confusing.
My boss pissed himself laughing for most of the Lotte tour, especially because I simply named every lady Margaret. There were no more Elizabeths or other names in my vocabulary — they were all Margaret!
Anyway, he had a very simple tick list and timed the trip. A little reminder not to do dangerous things…stay on the right side of the river, never move the pole over the people in the boat. Tick for mentioning the names of the colleges and the bridges……okay, passed — start ASAP!
Wish me luck!