My day out…CANOEING !!!

So it was one of those days, where you set out not knowing where you are going or what you are going to do, but somehow you do things that just makes your day !!! It was a beautiful Saturday morning, not too hot..not too cold…but just the right weather to be outdoors. My significant other promised to take me downtown to a place called Zilker Park. Honestly, I was wondering what was going to be at Zilker Park. I knew that they held music/other events there, including the ever popular – ACL (Austin City Limits Music Festival)…but other than that..i had no idea what else was there at Zilker Park !

So when I reached downtown Austin and entered Zilker Park, I was pleasantly surprised. For some reason, I seemed to love the place! Was it the tall, beautiful trees around..or was it the vast landscape of green sprawling lawns, or may be little chidren..some happily laughing and some crying aloud…or may be it was the beautiful Lake Austin - maybe it was a little bit of everything.

As we walked around, we saw a lot of kayaks and canoes. these canoes were actually rented out either by hours or for a day. I have never gone canoeing before. My only experiences with boating or sailing, was to be a silent spectator who merely enjoyed the experience, but never got to do the hard work of actually trying to tug at sails or use the oars!! So I had no idea of how one was supposed to canoe!!

Somehow, just looking at everyone around me canoeing, I suggested that we give canoeing a try. So there we were…at Lake Austin…not knowing the basics of canoeing…but confidently renting out a canoe!!! Whowww !!

So we got our canoe..picked our oars…put on our life jackets (this was of paramount importance…considering the fact that we could ….well…topple the canoe..LOL).. It was now SHOWDOWN time..yeahhh!! I was super excited as I stepped into the canoe..and as we tried to leave the river bank (with a little help from a friendly couple)..my excitement soon turned to terror!!

The place where we start is narrow, which meant, we were to steer the canoe such that it turns left and took the course upto the main part of Lake Austin. But unfortunately, not having any prior canoeing experience, my significant other and I had no idea how we were supposed to turn left or for that matter keep the canoe on a straight course. So we went straight ahead and hit the other bank :(. At that point, I was so flustered, coz I really didn’t want to make a fool of myself in front of other families standing there (there were kids too…and that made matters worse. Imagine kids giggling and laughing at how bad we were at keeping the canoe in the right course)…sheeesh….Amidst screaming and shouting, and getting hit by low lying trees, we finally managed to turn the canoe to the left!! Phewww…finally !!!

And then…like out of nowhere…and I still don’t know how…my significant other figured out how to steer the canoe (had he been on a canoe before…may be he was a pro at it and I was the..well…. ‘kiddo who didn’t know how to canoe’)…whatever it was..or however it happened….I was so relieved that we finally got it right…..yaaaaaayyy!!

So this is how canoeing works….if you want to steer right...you would need to use your oars on the left side of the canoe, as though pushing the water away from you. And if you want to steer the canoe to the left, row on the right side. And the secret to keeping the canoe in a straight course, is to balance the left and right movements, so that you stay on a straight course..

It was such a wonderful experience canoeing on Lake Austinl. The view of downtown Austin, with towering building and bridges was just beautiful!! Although it was tiring and your arms begin to ache after a while, trust me, its all worth it !!! While I can never forget the terrible start we had…in the end…alls well that ends well!!! :)