At 2am on 24 September 2010, (Correction – it was 25 September by now – I had left home on the evening of 24th) 14 of us boarded a minibus in Kent for a hectic trip to two beer festivals – with theme parks en route to add to the fun. It was organised by a friend of mine, and most people already knew each other – which made for a crazy atmosphere from the off 😆

First stop was Efteling in the Netherlands, where we met up with a trip organised by the ECC (For those who don’t know – the European Coaster Club, which is based in the UK) for an ERS on their new racing woodie – Joris en de Draak, which I am told translates as George and the Dragon.

This was a good, fun ride where the tracks do not remain together for the whole course, but rather cross each other a few times before coming together for a race to the finish line. This is really effective if the trains are evenly paced, although less so if one gets ahead and the riders on the other one can see the first cross over before they reach the crossing. The theming is really good in the station, where the winning train is greeted by banners unfurling from the ceiling. (Which I totally failed to capture on camera)

Main Entrance