Giant Wheel

Riding the Batukai Racer: A Thrilling Adventure

itemprop="discussionURL"0

Preface

It’s the second year of the Covid-19 pandemic and things are getting a bit back to normal as the numbers are currently dropping in Germany and more and more people are getting their vaccinations. Previously excisting restrictions are dropped and a visit to a theme park feels great once more – even though we are all wearing masks once we cannot avoid getting too close to people and of course on the rides.

Serengeti-Park and its Serengeti Safari

Since my last year’s visit was not the best, as Serengeti Park was crowded and the capacity of the rides was restricted to a minimum, I took a day off and visited the park on a very quiet Friday. This of course had the advantage of experiencing the awesome Serengeti Safari – one of the few drive-through safaris you can experience in an animal park – at my own pace and without being too restricted by the other cars. I was also right in time for the feeding of the lions, which led to some awesome pictures.

Splash Safari and the Black Mamba

After driving through the Serengeti Safari it was time to experience the theme park. Here, I mainly focused on the other “safari” experiences, which are mainly rather unique attractions and for the most part don’t feature any animals. I especially enjoyed the Splash Safari and Black Mamba Jetboat experiences, as both of them were extraordinary good in keeping you cool on a very hot summers day. While the Splash Safari offers a nice RIB speedboat ride on the park’s central lake, the Black Mamba jetboat safari just got you drenched the second the ride started – not to any surprise: It was the most popular ride on the day of visit.

Batukai Racer

The most recent addition to Serengeti Park is the roller coaster Batukai Racer by Technical Park which replaced the aging Chura Racer – a large Tivoli coaster made by Zierer. The layout of the 13m high family coaster basically only consists of a steep drop followed by three helices one after the other. The first of them is of special interest, as its curvature gets smaller when approaching the ground, which results in some very high G-forces and a rather awkward inclination. The second one acts like a small break in between as you get some more altitude before the final helix hits the ground. The ride itself is a bit jerky, yet not uncomfortable and a rather thrilling experience.

A story of a lost phone

So thrilling, that shortly after my first round, I wanted to do a second. I was a bit distracted taking photos with my camera so that I did not realised that I let my phone on one of the benches nearby before queuing up for the second ride. After the ride, my phone was gone and I started to panic a bit. I asked the ride operator if he saw anything, but that did not help. He gave me the information that it might end up at the service centre nearby the park’s main ticket booths at the end of the day. I waited some time and decided to give it a try and walked all the way to service centre, but they did not yet got anything. They asked me to come back shortly before their closure or write an email after my visit. So I went back around 5pm and to my own surprise they actually found it!

Even though I had to worry a bit about the phone, I had an extraordinary day at the park and enjoyed it quite a lot. The drive through the empty Serengeti Safari, the rides on the park’s roller coaster Safari Blitz and Batukai Racer, as well as the refreshing and drenching boat experiences on the Splash Safari and Black Mamba made my day.

Pictures Serengeti-Park

 

What is your opinion the new coaster Batukai Racer?  Just write them in the comment field below the report or visit our social media channels:

 

          

Serengeti Park

One Day in Hong Kong

itemprop="discussionURL"0

We left Brisbane early in the morning. After a good night’s sleep at the hotel, we took the train to the airport with ease. After three weeks in Australia, it was now time to say goodbye to the country as well as the continent. We had a wonderful time.

Our flight to Hong Kong was our first-time using Qantas and we were very impressed by the airline. It was a very relaxing flight, and the service was extra-ordinary. We arrived in Hong Kong around 5pm and shortly thereafter we already passed the integration and searched for the nearby train station. We stayed at the Panda Hotel in Tsuen Wan. From the station, it was just a short walk to the hotel. Yet, we first did the mistake of going down to the street level and not using the available walkways, which connect all buildings together. It is interesting to see that every building you pass has a large offer of shops and small restaurants. When we finally made our way to the hotel, we were told that our check-in desk is at one of the top levels of the hotel as we booked an executive room. The room itself was large, the bed comfy and the access to the lounge was a nice plus to an overall very good deal.

As our flight to Paris CDG would not leave until the very late evening on the next day, we had a full day of exploring Hong Kong. After a good breakfast, we made our way to the Monster Building (consisting of the Fook Cheong Building, the Montane Mansion, the Oceanic Mansion, the Yick Cheong Building, and the Yick Fat Building). This is one of the city’s top Instagram hotspots and one where I can fully understand that the habitants of the composite building don’t really like tourists. We therefore only took some pictures and left shortly thereafter.

With the classic double-decker tram, we made our way on the King’s Road towards the Western Market. After having a short look inside the building, we then moved on to the Central Mid-Levels Escalator, a large number of covered escalators which connects the Central business district with the Mid-Levels residential area.

We then made our way to Victoria Harbour, to enjoy a bit of the seaside view. We also took a ride on the Hong Kong Observation Wheel, which to our surprise was free-of-charge, as the AIA Group celebrated its 100th birthday and provided complimentary tickets for the first 1000 visitors every day for 100 days. We therefore enjoyed the views even more.

Our last stop of the day was – after a short stop at St. John’s cathedral – a trip up to Victoria Peak, by using the Peak Tram funicular. The journey up the mountain is a particularly exciting one, as the funicular is with a maximum incline of 48% a rather steep one. Once you reach the top of the mountain, you are provided with a superb view and all kinds of tourist attractions, whereby Monopoly Dreams might be the most exciting one, as it’s the only one of its kind so far. Victoria Peak is also a great starting point for walks, for which we sadly did not have the time.

Before we headed back to the hotel to collect our belongings and set off for the airport, we enjoyed the light show A Symphony of Lights. The 15-minute show is a stunning experience and the view from Victoria Peak was a great one.

When we arrived at the airport, it did not take long before boarding to Paris started. This time, our flight was with Air France and I have to admit that their long-distance flights are quite enjoyable. However, when we landed in Paris we had to rush a bit through the giant airport, and after the connecting flight to Hamburg, we were exhausted. It took me another two hours to get home, because all southbound trains were once again suspended due to a bomb discovery. While Aris had the chance to take a ride bus home, I called my aunt to collect me. 

Pictures Hong Kong

Conclusion of the roller coaster trip

Hell Yeah, Schnabelteah! was a trip of a lifetime and something I would love to do again. Australia is a great country and there is so much to do, even though a roller coaster trip is not the prime objective.

What do you think about Hong Kong?  Just write it in the comments section below the review or visit our social media channels:

          

 

Hell Yeah, Schnabelteah Day 21 and 22 / Hong Kong

Enjoying the Skyline of Melbourne

itemprop="discussionURL"0

Melbourne Star

After the second night in Queenscliff, we wanted to go to the capital of Victoria and therefore had to drive around Port Philipp Bay to the other side. Since the short ferry connection to Sorrento is quite expensive, we decided to go via Geelong. Following the M1, we reached Melbourne after about 100 minutes and the first destination of our day; the Melbourne Star Ferris wheel.

Operated and manufactured by the Sanoyas Hishino Meisho Corporation, the Ferris wheel is located in the very modern Waterfront City shopping and entertainment district in the Melbourne Docklands. Located between the harbour and Melbourne’s city centre, the 120m high wheel offers a unique view of the metropolis’ skyline and infrastructure.

Melbourne

Although the visit to the Melbourne Star was a rather spontaneous idea, it offered us an extremely impressive first view of the city of 4.3 million inhabitants, which we wanted to take a closer look at in the afternoon. Freshly stocked up with the first souvenirs, we went to our motel. We stayed at the Crest on Park in St. Kilda, so we could reach many destinations on foot. But the tram also ran right past our hotel, so that we could get to the city centre quite quickly.

For Aris, Albert Park was especially important, and we immediately set our sights on it. As a Formula 1 fan, he always wanted to visit the famous Albert Park Circuit. It’s a bit funny to be allowed to walk or drive freely on parts of the track, because a large part of it is just a normal street. The quietness of the pit lane naturally makes it seem like a foreign body within the sports park. Due to its location within the city and the truly impressive skyline, which is best observed from the shore of the central lake, it must be a very special event to be in Melbourne during the Grand Prix.

Passing the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre and the South Melbourne Football Club, we took the tram towards the city centre. Here we first had a look at Chinatown, which was founded in 1850 with the start of the gold rush in Australia. This makes Melbourne’s Chinatown one of the oldest in the world.

On Exhibition Street we came across the next evening’s destination, the Comedy Theatre. After we had eaten something in Chinatown, we moved on through the city centre. After a stop at the impressive Myer department stores’, we headed towards St. Paul’s Cathedral, which we could only admire from the outside. At the neighbouring Flinders Street station, we took the tram back to the hotel.

Pictures Melbourne and Melbourne Star

 

What are your thoughts about Melbourne and the Melbourne Star? Just write it here in the comment field below the report or visit our social media channels:

 

          

Click here for the next report of the Hell Yeah, Schabelteah! Tour

Hell Yeah, Schnabelteah Day 6 to 8 / Victoria