18-19 July 2015 - Great Yarmouth & Pleasurewood Hills

It's been a few years since we raided the east coast so we took ourselves off for a weekend. We used the faithful Sun £9.50 holidays and found ourselves in a cool caravan on a campsite called Breydon Water. First thing on Saturday we headed into Great Yarouth for aq crazy golf shootout - hence the gunfighter poses.

We held a complete Sam v Dad tournament here a few year ago - check it out here: Sam & Dad's Crazy Golf Tournament On this occasion Dad triumphed again.

On Sunday we went into Pleasurewood Hills for the day. The view from the top of the Jolly Roger vertical drop are fabulous, darling.

Just don't taqke photos - Not Allowed!

Introducing the new mascot, Murray the Miserable Cock. Say hello Murray. Oh, you can't.

Breakfast on Saturday was taken at the infamous Jesters Diner in Yarmouth. The home of the ginormous Kidz Breakfast, so-called because it weighs the same as a new-born baby.

We didn't attempt the Kidz breakfast, but the food we did try was delicious and unhealthy, just what the doctor ordered.

Sam & Dad's Most Excellent Crazy Golf Tournament

Day One - Pirate Cove

Pirate Cove is probably the best crazy golf course in Great Yarmouth.  Very clean, great theme (pirates, obv), interesting holes, great fun.  It's also the most expensive one, yet the most popular - you'll nearly always have to wait for a minute or two to move on to the next hole.

Sam improved on the back nine, but Dad took the day!

Dad 1 Sam 0

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Day Two - Hollywood Indoor Crazy Golf

Located in what used to be the Windmill Theatre, this is a great idea for a crazy golf course.  Holes with individual themes sounds great, but the reality is rather disappointing.

The course is badly decorated, and showing its age.  The props are poor quality and the playability on some holes is dubious.  And which child (or adult for that matter) would like the instruction "hit the ball hard into the Killer Clown's mouth"?

The final hole is a large roulette wheel, and players hit their ball onto it and add the number that their ball lands in to their score - Sam hit the 10 - Dad hit the 36!  Giving Sam an equalising victory.

Dad 1 Sam 1

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Day Three - Pleasure Beach Adventure Golf

On our way to the Pleasure Beach we played round three of the Most Excellent Crazy Golf Tournament.  This turned out to be the closest round of the week, as Sam found some range and either tied or beat Dad on the odd hole.

In the end Dad won by ten shots, and Sam played very well.

Dad 2 Sam 1

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Day Four - Arnold Palmer Putting Course

So, the deciding match.  A win for Sam ties the tournament; victory for Dad seals the title.

The Arnold Palmer was designed by the great golfer himself - I believe it was distributed round the world in kit form to be rebuilt in situ.

It's a great fun course, more challenging than it first appears.  Sam put up a terrific fight, played very well, but lost out by 13 strokes.  Check out our scores on the seventeenth hole!

Final Score - Dad 3 Sam 1

So after four gruelling days, fifty eight holes, a killer clown and two holes-in-one, Dad is the 2011 Crazy Golf Champion!

East Coast Truckers 2010

What's this going on at Yarmouth seafront? A traffic jam? No....





It's the East Coast Truckers charity convoy for 2010! I'd heard about this event, but was rather ambivalent. Giving kids a ride in a lorry, so what? I was wrong. As I watched the trucks roll past, with the kids waving at the crowd, and the crowd waving back, the joy on their faces was evident. I didn't shed a little tear though, oh no no no.


If you want to find out a bit more check out their website : East_Coast_Truckers


It's something I'd love to take Sam to see.

Oi!

It's the last thing you need....



When you're away for the weekend, and you've just got out of the bath, you realise there's some strange bird looking in the window at you......


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Who's a pretty boy then?

East Coast Weekend Part Two - Pleasurewood Hills

It cost just one English pound for us to gain entrance to Pleasurewood Hills. Well, combined with £30 of vouchers, bought with £7.50-worth of Tesco clubcard coupons. What a bargain!

We were hoping for a little drizzle to keep "other" people away, but the day was fine with occasionally hot sun. Pleasurewood Hills is a small-ish theme park, and a little dated, but still great fun. We arrived half an hour before the gates opened after a happy and noisy drive, doobie-dooting along to In The Mood and Pennsylvania 6-5000. First through the gates at ten, we didn't leave until half past four, and had a blast in between. The top pic is Sam & Dad monkeying around on the chairlift that travels the length of the site, and above is the view of the biggest ride, Wipeout, from said chairlift. Below is Wave Breaker, a high-speed raft slide. Ace.

There are quite a few activities that will require an additional payment, such as the shooting gallery, the petrol go-karts (superb fun, and we won!), and the mini-racers shown below.

A highlight is the sea lion show. It's the usual scenario of the animals clapping, waving, you name it. Here you can see one of them heading a suspended ball - notice the proximity of the children to the impending landing area of the sea lion....

Towards the end of the show the biggest sealion ascends to a high platform....Sam asked if he could go to the front....of course he could! In the picture below you can see Sam gazing upwards (he's the one directly below the keeper's welly).

For every action there's an equal and opposite reaction, according to Lucy, 18, from Weymouth. And when 45 stones of aquatic mammal hits the water from 2.5 metres up, a lot of the water jumps out of the way. Here's a soaking Sam to prove that the laws of physics actually do hold true (he thought it was great fun, despite the expression!):

As well as "grown-up" rides there are more traditional attractions. We're suckers for a classic set of Gallopers....

And Sam loved the spinning balloon thingie too.

So, Pleasurewood Hills. We had a fantastic day of fun, and it cost us next to nothing. Sam tried the adult-size pirate ship ride for the first time, loved it, and we went on five or six times in total. I think the full price of £31 for the two of us would be slightly over-priced, so make use of special offers (and they're plentiful) if you plan a visit. We'll be returning, one day.