Wednesday, August 12, 2015

Reservoir Discovery Series 2015 - Punggol Waterway

 
 Most people have been on the TPE, but few have gone under it!

Just a mere 2 weeks after the first leg of the Reservoir Discover Series (RDS) at Jurong Lake, I got roped in to help out at second leg held at the Punggol Waterway.

The little 6km tour starts off at the "watersports centre" located at 59 Anchorvale Road. Its actually the Anchorvale CC/Sports and Recreation Centre.


I put the words watersports centre in inverted commas because, the setup seems like an afterthought.
Kayaks are stacked precariously on top of each other while the PFDs and paddles are kept separately on the second floor of the CC.
Logistics wise, this isn't the most family friendly place for a weekend paddle. Furthermore, only 1 staff is on duty there, so they are really shorthanded. Though I would think this wouldn't be much of an issue to adults.

The session started off quite messy. The staff there, obviously shorthanded was focused on the task of getting forms filled up and it was left to the kayak trainers for the day to be the smiling faces of Water-Venture.

Unfortunately, it started to drizzle the moment we launched off. This drizzle and occassional rain ended up lasting the entire session!
On the bright side, no need to worry about heat stroke!

 Some father/daughter bonding

The trip started off mostly with nature surrounding you, but once we reached the area near Marina Country Club, we were greeted with a familiar site of buildings under construction.
 Anybody's future home?

 Punggol Waterway is pretty narrow

Mural about robots falling in love. Really cute!

What I liked about the place was that it was along the PCN. From my place near Hougang stadium, I cycled up to the PCN starting at Gerard Drive and rode right into the watersports centre.

I feel that Punggol Waterway has potential. Once the construction is all done, it may end up looking like a nice version of the Kolam Ayer Watersports Centre at River Vista in Bendemeer which I find to be as close to Amsterdam we'll ever get here in Singapore.
But until then, I'd say, this is a try once and that's it kind of place. If you're going with kids, do keep them away from the kayak storage area for their own safety.

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