Days out in Durham 2: Browns rowing boats!

Hello everyone

This is going to be a super quick post about my trip to Durham again yesterday. I visited Newcastle in the last few days due to grievance of a dear friend, to see another group of friends, and to catch up with my university careers/masters day services too. Whilst attempting to do all of that, I have a bad feeling I caught something off someone up there, as I’m not feeling too great, hence why I’m going to keep this fairly short. Please do check in with me tomorrow though, as I will be talking about the recent sunshine blogger award I have received! 🙂

My time in Durham

Anyway, for the time being I wanted to tell you about the day trip I had in Durham. The city itself is very quaint and full of small bookshops, cafes, and of course it’s stunning cathedral; some of the many reasons why I enjoy visiting. This time however, I planned on trying out rowing on the river the city lies on: the River Wear. Through walking past many a time, I have longed to be on the water and explore the city from the riverside. Today was the day!

Browns rowing boats: The experience!

 

Browns rowing boats are a company you can find on the edge of the river, that allow you to rent one of their boats for up to an hour. The boats can fit up to four people in each one and it’s only £6.50 each (or £4.50 for a child) with a £10 deposit, so it was a no-brainer for me to try one. The ten pound deposit is also returned to you at the end of the session when you bring the boat back in to dock again.

Before hoping in the boat, a boatman kindly fixes the oars in place, passes you a map of the wear and tells you to stick to the right-hand side of the river to avoid collisions with others. He then pushes you off the side and you are free to go wherever you wish provided it is within the guidelines of the map. It was so idyllic when we started and something that I haven’t tried in years, so I really enjoyed it. After a while though, the weather turned against us and we were trying to hide underneath a few trees for cover. Our arms were also feeling pretty tired and my hands looked as if they were going to blister. As a result, we headed back to the dock and bumped into some adorable duckling on the way – this was my favourite part!

 

 

 

 

Overall, I really enjoyed it apart from the weather. I would therefore suggest taking an umbrella when you visit and perhaps a friend with muscly arms that can row for you!

That’s all for tonight. Hope you have a nice evening 🙂

~Rose~