Where: NAVMAT Dragonboat Racing Club, Yarralumla Bay, navmat.asn.au

The day I went dragonboat racing I slept in. It was a Saturday morning, and I only had a few minutes to throw on clothes and jump in the car, leaving no time for coffee.

Arriving to meet the NAVMAT Dragonboat Racing Club at Yarralumla, I was greeted by an incredibly friendly and welcoming group. When one of them them told me to make sure I brought coins because we were stopping for coffee, I knew I'd found my new favourite people.

After some paddling instructions on shore, we set out on to the lake. If you think the lake looks good from the shore, Canberra looks absolutely stunning from the lake. We were taught a few drills, and did some fast paddling interspersed with some moments where we could sit, catch out breath and admire the view.

In the middle of the session we stopped at the museum for a coffee, and it was someone's birthday so someone had brought along a cake.

The group was fairly evenly split between males and females, and ranged significantly in ages. Quite a few people I spoke to got in dragon boating after injuries forced them out of running. Some people race in tournaments, while others just enjoy the fitness and social aspect of the training sessions.

Back out on the water, we worked up to even more strokes and then had a race with the other boat. Don't let the fact that you're sitting down fool you - paddling that quickly gets your heart rate up like you wouldn't believe, and by the finish line I was exhausted.

We were told you can always pull your paddle in and rest if you need to catch your breath, but it's hard not to get competitive out there on the water, gliding along with everyone shouting out the stroke numbers. Lay-down Sally I am not.

Next day soreness factor: My back and arms in particular were sore, but the big dose of Vitamin D left me feeling great.

Get started: You can head along and give dragon boating a go with the NAVMATs for three free trial sessions.