Zombie Apocalypse in Hastings!

Attempting to survive a Zombie outbreak in East Sussex!

Last Friday night we took part in the Zombie Apocalypse outdoor Laser Tag game at Battle Zone in Hastings!

The Zombie Apocalypse scenario saw our two teams being led through the Zombie-infested Battle Zone arena by a group of Special Ops soldiers.

Most of us were down in Hastings getting ready for the Castle Golf World Crazy Golf Championships, but Christopher was super-excited about the event and had travelled to Hastings with his mate Anthony from Southsea.

I wore my Zombie Slayers Association (ZSA) t-shirt to the event.

Emily looks a little nervous, Anthony looks petrified. And this was before we started!

Jam Trubridge bearing arms in the fightback against the zombies!

Christopher Gottfried gearing up for action

Emily is all tooled up

John 'Big Top Zombie Ted' McIver, chief organiser for our excursion, and zombie-a-like, tries to get to grips with his weapon

In our group me and Jam were the last players to 'die' and so were the top two survivors, although Jam had spent much of our pitiful five-minute fightback against the zombie hordes hiding in a hedge.

Our group of survivors after the Zombie Apocalypse.

Christopher and two of his zombie 'friends'. So inspired was Christopher by the night out that he put together a great Zombie outfit himself for Halloween. George Romero would be proud.

Me, looking far too happy stood next to a Zombie! It also appears that I am holding my gun the wrong way round!?

We were told that our group were the worst to ever play and so in the event of a Zombie Apocalypse we can all now rest easy in the knowledge that we would make better Zombies than survivors.

Two of the best moments for me were when everyone fired at Ted as they thought he was a Zombie, the other was the fact that despite being told that only headshots against the Zombies would count (and having watched countless Zombie films) we all still just fired wildly at the ensuing Zombies!?

The Battle Zone Zombie Apocalypse was a really great event, slightly spoiled by the fact that Christopher and his friend were almost denied entry as his surname had been written down incorrectly by a staff member when he made his booking. Thankfully common sense prevailed and he and Anthony were eventually allowed to join in.

Where Battle Zone is now used to be a great 18-hole Minigolf course that we played many times in BMGA Tour competitions. It was the 43rd course played on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

When the area was still a minigolf course it was also the setting for "The Minigolf Welly Boot Swamp Ball Incident in Hastings"!

Links:
- Battle Zone website
- Photos of the Zombies at the Battle Zone Facebook Page

Happy World Zombie Day!

Today is World Zombie Day!

I'm deadly serious, you can read about it on Fox News!

I hope everyone has a happy and safe day, that's hopefully real-life (or should it be 'dead') Zombie-free day.

In the UK this Halloween the new Battlezone Live Outdoor Laser Tag in White Rock Gardens, Hastings (where the Miniature Golf used to be) is holding a series of Zombie Apocalypse game events!

Lazer Blast Laser Tag Arena at the Circus Circus Hotel & Casino's Adventure Dome...

...was not open on our visit to Las Vegas.

A shame, as we'd have loved to have had a game or two!

The 18-hole Pike's Pass Miniature Golf course was open so we had a replay of that.

It's not the first Lazer Tag we've visited that has been closed on arrival (much like in our travels on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour). Sometimes we're lucky enough to have a great Laser Tag battle, but on occasions like on trips to Bristol, Milton Keynes, Colchester, Cleethorpes, Great Yarmouth we haven't been able to.

Other blog posts about Laser-related activity on our travels

The Laser Tag Rankings

Quasar in Great Yarmouth - Still Not Played

On our latest trip to Great Yarmouth we were unable to play the Quasar Laser Tag as the man at The Mint Amusement Arcade was unable to start the game up with only two players.

We also visited Great Yarmouth in June and didn't play then either, having missed the start of the game.

The neon Quasar sign has lost an 'A' since our last visit.

Laser Maze at Weston-Super-Mare's Grand Pier - and 'The Crystal Maze'

While on Weston-Super-Mare's Grand Pier we had a chance to play our first ever Laser Maze!

As big fans of Laser Tag (and all manner of other amusements) we couldn't wait to give it a go.

It's quite like playing one of the dreaded 'Automatic Lock-In' games on The Crystal Maze, in that you have to reach a target at one end of the room and return to touch another button to complete the task, all in the fastest possible time, and without breaking any of the Laser Beams!

I managed to beat Emily with a score of 399.4 to 427.0.

The Grand Pier is also home to 'The Crystal Maze'! Unfortunately it only shares its name with the brilliant TV Show and is not the same as the 'Cyberdrome' Crystal Maze Games (such as the one we played in Narbeth, Wales in 2009).

Course Played #43 Hastings (White Rock Gardens) - Minigolf - Crazy World of Minigolf Tour Archive

We first visited the 18-hole Adventure Golf course at White Rock Gardens (aka Planet Hastings, aka Clambers) in Hastings, East Sussex on the 14th March 2008 when it became the 43rd course played on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

We were in town preparing to compete in the 2008 Planet Hastings Crazy Golf Club Open, which takes place on each of Hastings' minigolf courses in one day!

On the 14th Emily and I had a practice on each of the courses, with Emily scoring a 62 at the course, with me hitting a 48. In our Irregular Mini Golf Tour Match-ups in Hastings that weekend I defeated Emily 311-332 in the Irregular Mini Golf Tour Hastings Challenge (over seven rounds) and I won the four round Irregular Mini Golf Tour Hastings Open 185-196.

In the 2008 Planet Hastings Crazy Golf Club Open I finished in 25th spot of 32 players, with Emily only one-shot back in 26th place.

The course was the setting for many BMGA Tour competitions over the years, the last of which was the BMGA British Open 2010. This was the final competitive tournament to be held on the course as it was turned into an outdoor laser tag arena in early 2011! A real shame as it was a brilliant miniature golf course.

On Sunday 19th September 2010 the course was also the location of "The Minigolf Welly Boot Swamp Ball Incident in Hastings."

Update - May 2011 - White Rock Gardens - From Minigolf to Laser Tag!

Photos of the new Battle Zone arena (4th May 2011)

Photos of Clambers Adventure Golf (as it was) at MiniatureGolfer.com

Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

Quasar Elite in Hemel Hempstead - 2 Blues vs 1 Red

Last weekend a fierce Laser Tag Battle took place at the Quasar Elite Centre in Hemel Hempstead, Herts. Luckily for our intrepid party of three we were able to have the run of the four-zone arena to ourselves!

The battle saw a classic Boys Against Girls Match take place, with me and our nephew Kallum (The Blues) taking on Emily (The Reds).

The Blues won!

I was first, with Emily 2nd, and Kallum picking up 'Bronze'!

Very good fun indeed.

Blog post from our last visit to the Quasar Elite in Hemel Hempstead in March 2011 (they've had a paint job on the outside and had new signs put up since then).

Laser Tag Rankings - Update

The Laser Tag Rankings have had a slight change, in that Kallum Harper enters the list at number 11.

In the Ongoing Laser Tag War that rages between the forces of the REDS, BLUES, GREENS, and YELLOWS we've all taken part in Laser Battles in 'laser-war-torn' places including Birmingham, Hemel Hempstead, Bristol, London, Peterborough, Crawley, New Brighton, Cannock, Whitstable and Skegness.

Quasar in Great Yarmouth - Biggest in 'Great Britainshire'!?

On our visit to Great Yarmouth on Sunday 5th June 2011 we visited the 'Biggest Quasar in Great Britainshire' (according to the advert playing outside The Mint amusement arcade).

The 30 minute games are £5 each and are played out over a two-level Laser Tag arena. The games start on the hour, and as we had just bumped into fellow Minigolf tourist Peter Jones and I had spent time chatting to him about the Arnold Palmer course in the town, we missed the start of the next game by seven minutes.

As big fans of Laser Tag in all its forms we'll play there on our next visit.

Laser Quest on Skegness Pier, but not in Cleethorpes

While away on our Seaside and Minigolf Roadtrip to Lincolnshire, we visited two Laser Tag game centres, and managed to play one of them.

In Cleethorpes we were unable to play as the game requires at least four players for it to be finacially viable for the Amusement Arcade to run. The Labyrinths of Doralia at Fairworld does sound intriguing though! We will be back, and in greater numbers...

We had better luck on Skegness where, after a great big Steak Dinner (at Steak n Stuff), Emily and I went for a one-on-one Laser Tag Battle at the Laser Quest on Skegness Pier!

I won :-) Emily scored 117, and I scored 287. Our 'colour' was MIXED rather than the standard RED or GREEN!

There has been no change in the Laser Tag Rankings since the last update.

No Quasar Action at Colchester's Rollerworld

In what seems to be a continuing theme in our 'sporting entertainment' travels we headed to Colchester yesterday afternoon, and on visiting the Quasar Laser Tag centre at Rollerworld we found it didn't open until 7pm on Sundays!

Back in the very early days of my Blogging and when we were first heading off on roadtrips around the UK's seasides we headed to Great Yarmouth & Lowestoft, only to find each and every one of the Minigolf courses to be closed!

Other Ham & Egger Files Blog Posts About Laser Tag