A look at Hohtogolf West Coast Helsinki in Finland.
A big thank you to my friend, minigolf rival and team-mate Kevin Moseley for sending over photos of the Hohtogolf West Coast Helsinki indoor minigolf course from his recent trip to Helsinki, Finland.
Hohtogolf West Coast Helsinki in Finland
A quick look shows "Hohtogolf" translates as "Glitter Golf". There doesn't look to be much glitter in that sh...portable toilet hole!
Hohtogolf West Coast Helsinki in Finland
Hohtogolf West Coast Helsinki in Finland
The rest of the layout looks shiny though.
Hohtogolf West Coast Helsinki in Finland
A scorecard from Hohtogolf West Coast Helsinki in Finland
Established by the World Toilet Organization in 2001, World Toilet Day was made an official UN day in 2013. UN-Water leads a taskforce of international agencies to campaign around a common theme.
World Toilet Day, celebrated on 19th November every year, is about inspiring action to tackle the global sanitation crisis and help achieve Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6, which promises sanitation for all by 2030.
The new adults-only House of Holes indoor Crazy Golf course is opening in Derby this month.
The date has been set for the grand opening of Derby’s brand new adults-only indoor Crazy Golf course, with the House of Holes venue officially opening to the public on Saturday 16th March.
A sneak peak at hole 1 of the new House of Holes Crazy Golf course
House of Holes has been created in the former Grand Theatre on Babington Lane in Derby. As well as the intriguing Crazy Golf course the venue will serve street food and cocktails accompanied by music from a resident DJ.
The House of Holes course will consist of 18 individually themed holes decorated with memorabilia, shop mannequins and other odd and interesting obstacles including a full-size plane – a nod to Rolls-Royce and Derby’s aerospace industry – roller boots and a large neon-lit guitar, which was discovered in the building’s basement and is believed to be over 30 years old.
The venue has, over the years, been home to a number of nightclubs called Ritzy’s, McClusky’s and Confetti’s.
We're looking forward to seeing what the rest of the House of Holes Crazy Golf course looks like
In addition to the work on the course itself, House of Holes has employed local graffiti artists to decorate the walls of the building, while old copies of Viz cover the interior of the men’s toilets!
I'm a big fan Viz comic, although it's not as funny as it used to be
In the last couple of years indoor Crazy Golf has really taken off and is fast becoming a favourite choice for a fun night out, as well as a popular day time activity.
Bookings are now being taken via the House of Holes’ Facebook page, with an 18-hole round of Crazy Golf costing £10.
Spotting a Crazy Cave Shooting Gallery at Playland Fun Park in Stourport on Severn.
I'm a big fan of the traditional seaside shooting shack and so I was pleased to find one I'd never seen before at Playland Fun Park in Stourport. We were in town to play the Crazy Golf courses and noticed the shooting gallery between the two kiosks. It was quite different to the classic 'Old Zeke' style we normally see on on our travels.
The Crazy Cave shooting shack
Bootleg Fred
It's not a true shooting shack unless it's got a lavvy to unlock!
For a landlocked town Stourport on Severn has a lot of amusements, minigolf courses and attractions! We're looking forward to another visit to the town.
A look at the Collector's World exhibition at the Portland Basin Museum in Ashton-under-Lyne.
We recently visited Ashton-under-Lyne and the Portland Basin Museum to see the Collector's World exhibition which is on display until the end of February.
I'd seen the Collector's World listed in the Tameside Reporter newspaper and as a collector of many things myself it was interesting to see the varied display of people's collections in the museum.
The various collections were displayed in some very nice pods
Medal, sticker and bottle collections
The Portland Basin Museum is well worth a visit and the curators there were incredibly enthusiastic and helpful. We only had time for a flying visit, but we'll be back for a longer look around in the future.
We had a great time in Ashton-under-Lyne
The Portland Basin Marina
Interacting with one of the museum's social history exhibits in the 1914-1918 Street
We love travelling around the UK and in the last month we've travelled to Scotland and Wales and noticed a lot of dual language signs.
I always really enjoy driving in Wales as you know you're in a foreign country when you see the first ARAF on the road.
ARAF
On the doors of the toilets in the games-room of our hotel in Cwmbran there was a confusing situation!
Toileting abroad
It didn't help that neither of us could remember which symbol (depicted on the dragon tails) was the right one for male/female!? I suppose blue is quite obviously the men's lavvy.
Rather unhelpfully when I contacted my personal Welsh to English translation service by text I received a reply of "Men and Women". It took a second text to clarify the correct way round! Thank goodness neither of us had to go at the time.
After Araf (for 'Slow') and Allan (pronounced "Achlan", the Welsh word for 'Out' as in an exit) I like seeing signs for Canol y dref.
A brown sign pointing to Crickhowell's Canol y dref
We enjoyed our visits to Abergavenny (Y Fenni) and Crickhowell (Crug Hywel) and while in Builth Wells (Llanfair ym Muallt) we took a snap of Emily's new favourite Welsh words.
This time we were in Wales for the World Alternative Games (Gemau Byd Arallddewisol) in Llanwrtyd Wells (Llanwrtyd). At the Games we ran the Finger Jousting (Ymwan Bys) Championships, played Portaputt (Portaputt) and competed in the World of Grip (Byd Gafael).
We're looking forward to many more roadtrips around the UK.
The layout looks impressive in its location in Queen's Court at thecentre:MK.
thecentre:MK's Pirate Adventure Golf course in Queen's Court
The centre-piece of the vividly coloured, well laid out and fun looking course is a 20ft moving Octopus!
The GIANT minigolf Octopus at thecentre:MK's Pirate Adventure Golf course
The course itself is of the 'Eternit' type of Miniature Golf - with the addition of felt to the playing surface and a few non-standard hole types and obstacles.
Emily on hole 6
The pirate theming around the site is really well done and the striking blue of the felt on the course makes a nice contrast with the green felt flooring.
Putting in the wake of the Kraken!
It makes for a pleasing playing environment - even if the course is very tricky, with some tough second (and third) putts.
Emily lining up a second shot
In our match-up Emily, the Eternit Miniaturegolf specialist (and British Women's Record Holder on the surface), beat me by one-shot with a result of 33 to 34.
Emily playing hole 10
Both scores were good enough to get us on the course Leader Board too.
Emily in tied fourth place on the Pirate Adventure Golf Leader Board with her 33
Squire in sixth spot
The course costs £4.50 a round for adults and the second round on the same day is half price. I took advantage of this and had another round after we'd had a bit of a shop around thecentre:MK.
In the stocks
The Pirate Mini Golf course will be in thecentre:MK until the 29th of August 2014 and is open seven days a week. It's an interesting layout, has friendly staff and is worth a play.