Our journey from Halfweg to Efteling, in Brabant, south of Amsterdam, took almost two hours. By now we have become fairly competent using the trains, working out where to change, which platform to head for and how to hook up to ‘wi-fi in de trein’ once we have found a seat: way less stress than our first two days of train use anyway, when the service was disrupted by first the power outage, then the gale force wind.
Efteling is a Parkplattegrond, a large theme park, similar in some respects to Disneyland, though without the suited characters, and with less emphasis on branded merchandise. We spent the day trying as many of the rides as possible, from the corkscrew twisting big drops and loops of the Python roller coaster to the water-based ‘spookschip’ De Vliegende Hollander, or the Flying Dutchman, which recreates a legendary ghostly ship condemned to sail on the stormy oceans forever after the captain made a pact with the devil.
By the end of the day we had all overdosed on adrenaline, except Vikki, who decided that solid ground was more to her liking than defying gravity, leaving her quite content to watch while the rest of us indulged in the thrills on offer.
According to Juliet, the best ride was Joris en de Draak, a mainly wooden roller coaster featuring a fire-breathing dragon. “It was kind of scary. I’m a novice when it comes to roller coasters and that was the biggest one I’ve ever been on. I really enjoyed looking at the photos of us all yelling and screaming, and posing, at the end of each ride, particularly Sam,” she said.
Another day of fine weather helped make Efteling an excellent experience, and the boys' decision to wear shorts, not a normal fashion statement in The Netherlands, proved to be a wise one.
Meanwhile Bevan and Mark had embarked on a separate mission: a round of golf in Arnhem with Ben Crum, one of the absolute legends of korfball, whose PKC team will feature in the final at Ahoy on Saturday. In the interest of building international relations, the antipodean pairing let the Dutch locals with home course advantage win the match and the prize of a pleasant lunch post-round lunch.
Tot morgen,
Rob
Efteling is a Parkplattegrond, a large theme park, similar in some respects to Disneyland, though without the suited characters, and with less emphasis on branded merchandise. We spent the day trying as many of the rides as possible, from the corkscrew twisting big drops and loops of the Python roller coaster to the water-based ‘spookschip’ De Vliegende Hollander, or the Flying Dutchman, which recreates a legendary ghostly ship condemned to sail on the stormy oceans forever after the captain made a pact with the devil.
By the end of the day we had all overdosed on adrenaline, except Vikki, who decided that solid ground was more to her liking than defying gravity, leaving her quite content to watch while the rest of us indulged in the thrills on offer.
According to Juliet, the best ride was Joris en de Draak, a mainly wooden roller coaster featuring a fire-breathing dragon. “It was kind of scary. I’m a novice when it comes to roller coasters and that was the biggest one I’ve ever been on. I really enjoyed looking at the photos of us all yelling and screaming, and posing, at the end of each ride, particularly Sam,” she said.
Another day of fine weather helped make Efteling an excellent experience, and the boys' decision to wear shorts, not a normal fashion statement in The Netherlands, proved to be a wise one.
Meanwhile Bevan and Mark had embarked on a separate mission: a round of golf in Arnhem with Ben Crum, one of the absolute legends of korfball, whose PKC team will feature in the final at Ahoy on Saturday. In the interest of building international relations, the antipodean pairing let the Dutch locals with home course advantage win the match and the prize of a pleasant lunch post-round lunch.
Tot morgen,
Rob