We headed to Zilker Park in Austin, seeking an active diversion. And, lo, there was canoeing!
A short walk down from Barton Springs pool there lay canoes of all sorts and sizes; all for hire and presided over by the most immobile attendant we’d yet seen in the States. Civil and informative, he was – but immobile. He managed to field all manner of enquiries from us and other punters, to hire out and to check back in canoes, paddles and lifejackets – all without moving his arse one centimetre in his chair. It was as if he’d been superglued to his seat.
Anyway ‘statue-boy’ suggested we’d be comfortable in a Canadian-style canoe, and so it turned out. We successfully negotiated getting in and sitting down (the ‘take-off’ phase of canoeing) – then we were on our way.
The canoes await us
The afternoon was warm and sunny and we took it easy as we plopped down the river – which was clear and green-tinted. It was warm enough for turtles to be taking the sun on rocks and logs – sliding into the water if we got too close. After a while the river joined the Lady Bird Johnson lake, which runs along the south side of downtown Austin.
We paddled up and down the lake – as far as our two hours would allow, joining the communion of paddlers and rowers on the water and joggers and bikers on the bank. All enjoying some pleasant exercise in the evening sun. We noticed lots of shady ‘nooks’ with seats that had been built on the lake side for watchers, readers and would-be poets to reflect a while. What a wonderful amenity the lake is – so close to the city.
The lake (a dammed stretch of the Colorado river) was also spanned by several bridges and it was interesting to see the life going on under them – mostly swifts or martins swooping in and out of their mud huts.
The Colarado river
Canoeing towards Austin
When we’d got back up the river – no mean feat with the full glare of the sun against us – we negotiated the trick ‘landing’ phase of the journey (i.e. getting out) and went to pay the $20 for our two hours. For some reason ‘statue boy’ only wanted to charge $10, even after my querying it – so we toddled off even happier! (My theory is that he’d have had to get off his seat for a receipt or something if he’d charged us more than $10!)
Lying in bed later, I got pangs of guilt about ‘statue boy’ – then again, there hadn’t been any sign of crutches nearby!