A Day Out In Alton Towers

Bihani Kularatne, Sri Lanka

It was a sunny, cool Saturday morning in the month of October. About 20 students assembled at the Sheffield Interchange to embark on a trip that was to be remembered years later. We were to board a bus to Alton Towers!!!

From the time we boarded the bus it was a constant flow of fun and laughter. We sang and cracked jokes all the way to Alton Towers. When we got there we bought the tickets and were each handed a map of the park. We decided to split into two groups. The first attraction my group decided to visit was the Black Hole. After queuing for about 20 minutes we got on the ride. For the first few minutes we were very slowly taken to the top of what looked liked a circus tent on something that vaguely resembled a canoe. We all thought that this was what the ride was about and quite disappointed that there was nothing daunting about the experience. As it turned out, we all jumped to conclusions a bit too soon. The next thing we knew was that there was a drop of what seemed like a few hundred feet to the ground. None of us quite knew what happened. There was no warning and it seemed like a vertical drop in a place that was pitch black.

Next we headed to the Congo River Rapids. We sat on large inflated rubber rings which turned round and moved along the Katanga Canyon. There were times we felt that we would topple over but we didn´t. We were soaked from the waterfalls that were on either side of the canyon.

Nemesis was the much talked about attraction that we could not resist. The queue for this was two and a half hours long. Yet we decided that we shouldn´t miss it. Looking at it, it seemed like it was out to scare everyone with a vengeance, just like the name suggests. Some of us chickened out and wanted to turn back. But we finally managed to talk everyone into it. The ride lasted 90 seconds and at the end of the ride I felt like I had been turned over several times and thrown in mid air. This ride was definitely the highlight of the day.

We also managed to go on the Blade, the Ripsaw and also go into Haunted House. We came away from Alton Towers tired but very happy about our wonderful day out. I would strongly recommend it to anyone with a liking for roller coaster rides. A visit to Alton Towers is a not to be missed experience.

Bihani Kularatne, Sri Lankastrong>