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.

Reservoir Discovery Series 2014 - Kallang

After an enjoyable day of paddling for the 1st leg in the PA Water-Venture's Reservoir Discovery Series at Jurong Lake, I just confirmed my participation in another leg of PA Water-Venture's Reservoir Discovery Series at Kallang!

Check out my write up "Water-Venture Kallang Walkabout" if you've never been there.

Those who are driving may wish to park their cars at the Kampong Bugis carpark across the river. You just have to cross a small bridge and walk a little to reach Water-Venture Kallang.



Noticed a blog with a write up on the Jurong Lake leg of the RDS 2014 as well on A Winsome Life and saw a pic of myself :) It's not often that I get my picture taken while paddling.

Water-Venture Reservoir Discovery Series: Jurong Lake

I had the good fortune to be involved in the 1st leg of Water-Venture's Reservoir Discovery Series. It was a simple 5km kayaking trip around Jurong Lake, Chinese Garden and the Japanese Garden.
One good thing about this event is that its a simple and short trip at only 5km. Best part was that permissions was granted by PUB to allow paddlers to enter the Chinese Garden and Japanese Garden, places usually out of bounds to avoid the risk of paddlers being flushed out by the tidal gates when PUB needs to reduce the water level.

 

The day started off pretty gloomy with heavy rains early in the morning. The event was delayed by 30 minutes, starting at 10am instead of 9.30pm.
The organisers were a little worried when only less than half of the registrants showed up at around 9am, but we ended with quite a good turn out.

Kolam Ayer CC River Vista Kayaking Clinic Review

In my last blog post, I blogged about a trip where I led a group of paddlers from Kolam Ayer CC's River Vista Kayaking Centre to the Marina Barrage. It was a fun trip with grandparents and kids paddling together.

Kolam Ayer CC runs the centre and organises kayak orientation programmes led by qualified instructors every 1st Saturday of the month.
While I applaud the initiative to start this kayak centre and organise activities for the residents, I find that it is a waste of time for anyone to join the monthly kayak orientation programmes.

Why is this so?

This is because the demarcated area for paddling is very small. Even with the qualifed instructors present as guides, the management from Kolam Ayer CC does not allow paddlers to go out of the demarcated area.
This would not be a problem if the boundary is big. However, during the last orientation programme I was involved in, it took a bunch of newbies 20 minutes to paddle from one end to the other. Participants pay $18 for a 3hours session, but the place is so small you would get bored in under an hour.

Im guessing the management from Kolam Ayer CC simply took the idea of a demarcated area from Water-Venture and implemented it without considering if it makes sense to apply it to their kayak centre.
Water-Venture allows unsupervised and unguided rentals of kayaks, having a demarcated area helps them limit where these people can wander. On the other hand, Kolam Ayer CC only opens up the centre once a month for guided orientation programmes.

If anyone is considering paddling there I'd rather you go to Water-Venture Kallang, located at 4876 Beach Road. They are open everyday except Mondays and you get to paddle freely, without a guide in a much bigger area.
Rental costs $15 for 2 hours. Or if you sign up for their bundled PAssion card and Water-Venture membership, it will only cost you $7.
For more details on membership and rates, check out http://www.water-venture.org.sg/

Opening up of waterways: River Vista to Marina Barrage trip

Setting off from River Vista

Kolam Ayer CC has set up a kayak shed complete with toilets and shower facilities at the River Vista HDB estate at 38B Bendemeer Road #01-812.
You can get to paddle in the waterways that were beautified and opened up as part of the ABC Waters programme.
Paddlers used to be able to paddle all the way to the end of the Singapore River for a similar experience but authorities put a stop to it. So right now, this is probably as close as you would get to paddling in Amsterdam's canals.

Inside Marina Reservoir

Marina Barrage

The trip to Marina Barrage was a Kolam Ayer CC Active Aging activity which coincided with International Water Week. It was nice to see grandparents/parents and grandchildren/children paddling together.

More pictures here