The Young & The Restless | A love story on the water

By Bree Harding

Feb 7, 2024

Taking it easy: While they may look similar, punt boats are not the same as gondolas. Photo by Contributed

*Picturesque ride: Ayami and Max push us peacefully around the lake at Melbourne’s Royal Botanic Gardens.* Photo by Contributed

What’s more romantic than being gently pushed around a picturesque lake on an old-fashioned wooden punt? The love story between the owners.

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What’s less romantic about this punt boat ride around a picturesque lake is sharing it with three teenage boys rather than a Valentine.

While they might be the loves of my life, there are no Titanic-type tales of romance to be told after our voyage. (And thankfully, no other non-romantic tales that bear any resemblance to those of the Titanic either!)

Someone may have dared someone to jump in at some point, someone may have farted and blamed it on someone else, and someone else might have laughed cheekily about it while I might have been shooting looks of disapproval and internally interrogating myself as to why I thought this would be an appropriate activity to engage in with them.

But, as many say, punting is as relaxing as a massage. While I’d agree because I felt those effects personally, the jokes died down pretty quickly between my boys when our little cruise appeared to have a soothing effect on them within just a few minutes of floating as well.

They sat still (a feat on its own for my youngest), slightly reclined against comfy velvet cushions for 30 minutes, calmly listening to our captain, Ayami, teach us the history of Melbourne’s Royal Botanic Gardens (where the lake is located), its beginning, its timeline of significant events and its birdlife. Ayami even gave us laminated sheets of all the bird species found in the gardens to see if we could spot them.

She told us about the origins and establishment of the business, the challenges it faced during COVID-19 (including how the gardens didn’t charge them rent during those tough times and how that helped the business survive) and the story of how she and her husband, Wesley, met.

Ayami was travelling in New Zealand and, by chance, found herself punting on the Avon River, where she spotted Wesley playing the ukulele — one of her hobbies — on one of the boats.

Drawn to him and his fascinating job, he gave her a go at pushing his punt, and, as it turned out, the former scuba diving instructor, kinder music teacher and sign-writer was a natural at it.

When she got back home to Japan, she packed her bags, applied for a working visa and moved abroad to live with Wesley after knowing him for only two weeks.

Eventually, the couple moved to Australia and, in 2013, established their own punting company — Punting on the Lake — at the gardens, where it still is today.

They have three watercraft they had purpose-built based on a traditional design of punts used in Cambridge, England, slightly adapted to modern boat-building standards and Australian conditions.

Each was built in New Zealand with Australian timbers, is 8m long, weighs 320kg and can carry up to six passengers.

Each also has a name: Victoria, after the state; Yarra, after the river that flows through Melbourne; and Charles, after the founder of the gardens (Lieutenant-Governor Charles La Trobe).

Wesley and Ayami, along with their two other staff, wear charming boater hats and candy-striped ties while pushing their passengers around using 4m-long poles against the bottom of the lake in their punts.

They provide blankets in case the weather is cool and parasols for protection from either the sun or light showers.

We were lucky enough to have co-captain Max — a little rescue dog — at the helm of our punt with Ayami, who also kept the kids entertained on our journey.

Possibly the best bit about this dog-friendly activity is that you can take your dogs on the punts (and they can even wear little hats and ties provided by Ayami and Wesley for the occasion).

But they’re probably only welcome if your dog’s not an over-excitable, duck-chasing, butt-wiggling, wrecking ball like ours.

We didn’t take her.

With the business having just turned 10, you’re safe punting on the lake with the highly experienced crew who have raced punts on the Thames and the Sorgue, taken lessons in England’s Oxford and Cambridge, and punted in The Netherlands, Germany, Czech Republic, New Zealand and Japan.

If you’re looking for something unique and romantic to do with your lover (and furry friends) next week on Valentine’s Day, maybe this is it.

Or maybe you’d prefer the company of your clowning offspring, like me.