Tuesday 26 October 2010

Wednesday Quiz in Exile IX: Pin the Tail on the Country

While Michael5000, is still pretending that he's not writing quizzes, but is instead concentrating on dorkfest, this antipodean blog is providing an antipodean alternative.

Sorry for the interruption to our regular service, the internet is not always our friend. This weeks quiz is not a happy camper, thus we bring you what was to be next week’s quiz. This quiz will test your geographical knowledge and also how much you’ve been paying attention for the last few months. All you have to do is accurately position each of these Australian locations according to the grid. Each point correctly placed will earn you 5 points up to a maximum of 120, and odd numbers of correct answers will be rounded up the nearest 10 points, thus you need only 23 out of 25 to score full points in this admittedly difficult challenge.

In which location on the grid are these national landmarks?

1. Sydney: Capital of New South Wales, largest city in Australia, holder of the 2000 Olympics, and perennial winner of the most famous city award. First landing place of James Cook in 1770.
2. Melbourne: Capital of Victoria, second largest city in Australia, holder of the 1956 Olympics, and perennial coveter of the most famous city award.
3. Canberra: National capital city, a planned city made the capital because Sydney and Melbourne couldn’t decide who was more important.
4. Brisbane: Capital of Queensland. I need to go back there and have a look sometime.
5. Hobart: Capital of Tasmania, Australia’s Apple Isle.
6. Adelaide: An oasis of class and sophistication in the midst of a world gone mad.
7. Perth: Capital of Western Australia. Like Adelaide, but prettier and further away.
8. Mt. Kosciusko: The tallest mountain in Australia, it’s generally pretty cold.
9. Uluru: Monolith and perennial winner of the most recognisable landmark award, to the chagrin of the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
10. Lake Eyre: Australia’s largest lake, generally dry, home of the exceedingly optimistic Lake Eyre Sailing Club.
11. Alice Springs: Central city most famous for its Todd River Race, the boat race that was cancelled in 1993 because for the first time in 50 years there was water in the river.
12. Hutt River Principality: Famous micro-nation in regional WA, ruled since 1970 by Prince Leopold, yet unrecognised by the Australian government.
13. Broken Hill: Mining town that should be familiar to returning quiz participants.
14. Ballarat: Victorian mining town that was the centre of Australia’s first gold.
15. Poeppel Corner: Point in the Simpson Desert that marks the boundaries of 3 different states/ territories.
16. Cairns: Tropical tourist city and gateway to Cape York.
17. Town of 1770: Location of Cook’s second mainland landing. Now a tourist town operating cruises on amphibious vehicles.
18. Pt. Hedland: Australia’s largest port, servicing the booming WA iron mining industry.
19. Great Victoria Desert: A great big patch of emptiness. It’s not in Victoria.
20. Big Desert: A small desert, by Australian standards, just north of Little Desert.
21. Hamilton Island: Biggest of the Whitsunday islands in the Great Barrier Reef.
22. Rum Jungle: Australia’s first uranium mine, appropriately named after an alcoholic beverage.
23. Eucla: Little town in the middle of the Great Australian Bight. Famous for being in the middle of the Great Australian Bight
24. Cape Grim: Site of the massacre of as many as 60 aborigines by 4 shepherds after the tribe drove a flock of sheep off a cliff. Locals used to call the area Victory Hill, but the name was changed for some reason.
25. Kakadu National Park: World Heritage site and home of some the most famous rainforest and waterfalls in Australia.


Spin around three times and leave your answers in the comments.

13 comments:

Joanna said...

Yes! No! I don't know!

John said...

:\

1. j7
2. i8
3. j7
4. k5
5. j9
6. g7
7. b7
8. j7
9. f4
10. g5
11. f3
12. ...what? I'll guess d2.
13. h6
14. i8
15. e5
16. Ooh, a tricky one given how the grid goes. I'll guess i3.
17. i2
18. a3
19. guessin' d5
20. nfi. Shot in the dark says d4.
21. j3
22. d1
23. e6
24. i9
25. f1

Man, some of these are going to be so wrong. I'm embarrassed. :/

Michael5000 said...

1. j7ish
2. i8
3. i7
4. K6ish
5. j9ish
6. g7 or possibly extreme southern g6
7. b6
8. j6
9. From contextual clues, I'm guessing you refer to Ayers Rock. No fair being newfangled/oldfangled. f4.
10. There's a story there. i5ish?
11. f4.
12. b4.
13. Oh, let's say j5.
14. Oh, let's say j7.
15. e5. Or possibly g5.
16. Possibly j3
17. Let's go crazy and say f1.
18. Iron is booming? What century is this? b7.
19. Like, d5?
20. i5.
21. j3. Whisunday Islands. Nice.
22. eh, f2.
23. f6, or maybe f5.
24. Well you have a lot of capes. k6.
25. Never heard of it. i2.

I hereby declare victory.

UnwiseOwl said...

I have nothing but respect for your crazy Americans coming over here and competing off of your home turf. You were SO close with some.

dhkendall said...

1. j7
2. i8
3. j7
4. j3
5. j9
6. g7
7. b6
8. j5
9. f4
10. g6
11. f4
12. b5
13. e6
14. h8
15. g5
16. i2
17. k5
18. a5
19. f3
20. c5
21. k2
22. f6
23. d5
24. j4
25. i2

Aviatrix said...

Oh wow. I didn't even know Australia had that many places. Let me try:

1. k5 - I know it's on the east coast, and cities are often at the mouths of rivers, although this may be a bit too far north
2. j8 - I think it's on the east, and I'd better put it in a different state.
3. j7 - I didn't know Australia had a planned city for the capital. I'm going to presume they didn't do like razil and put it in the otherwise uninhabited interior.
4. a4 - This one is on the other side, I think, but not sure how far up.
5. i9 - Ooh, big hint here. I'll put it on the west side of the island, because that's bigger.
6. j4 - I haven't used this bit yet.
7. b5 - Oh rats, this is the one that's on the west side. Although I suppose Australian cities aren't like Terminators. I mean Highlanders. There can be more than one. I'll give it what looks like a nice harbour.
8. e5 - Mountains, huh? Where might the pointy bits of Australia be?
9. g4 - It's in the middle, in the desert somewhere.
10. e3 - Never heard of it, but must be in the GAFA somewhere.
11. f4- Another middle bit. Wait, they cancelled the boat race on account of water?
12. b6 - I've not only heard of this one, but am reasonably certain it's somewhere about here.
13. d5 - I'm deciding this part has mines
14. c6 - So I'll be consistent and put this here.
15. e5 - Kind of you to have one almost-gimme. I'll go for this one.
16. i3 - Assuming Cape York is kinda pointy
17. k4 - I'll put it near the one I though was the first one.
18. c7 - I'd better put it a) on the shore and b) near where I claimed there was mining.
19. i4 - I haven't used this one yet, and I think Victoria is further south.
20. f3 - Needs room to be north of something, and still be continental.
21. f1 - This is where I have to admit that I know less about the Great Barrier Reef than Nemo. But there are some islands here.
22. f5 - Canada's uranium mines are kind of in the middle.
23. i2 - A bight is the loose end of a rope, so the long stringy bit can be it.
24. e2 - Sad. Has to be on the coast, because that's where capes are.
25. d2 - Maybe it's where the fjords are.

Aviatrix said...

Michael5000, I'm surprised you didn't know Uluru. Can you find Haida Gwaii, Denali, Iqaluit and Kerepakupai-Meru? That would be a good topic for a quiz. Easy version, given the modern names, supply the imperialist names. Difficult version: given the old names, supply the current name. There's a reason why pilots say "YLU" and not the name of the town.

UnwiseOwl said...

Sounds like a good game, Aviatrix, especially for Canada, you guys have some great names up there. Didn't Regina used to be called Bag O' Bones or something?

Anyway, answers, 'cause I know you're all just hanging out for them.
1. Sydney, J7
2. Melbourne, I8
3. Canberra, J7
4. Brisbane, K5
5. Hobart, J9 (there's nothing on that western side)
6. Adelaide, G7
7. Perth, B6
8. Mt. Kosciusko, J7 (Yup, everything of significance is in J7)
9. Uluru, F4. (Actually, it's official name is Uluru-Ayers Rock, they changed it from Ayers Rock-Uluru in 2003 and from Ayers Rock in the seventies sometime.)
10. Lake Eyre, H5. (They have a VERY shallow bottomed sailing boat up there)
11. Alice Springs, F4.
12. Hutt River, B5 (I wwas suprised at how many of you knew this...more than knew Perth...)
13. Broken Hill, J6.
14. Ballarat, I8 (once again, the influential places are all squashed up in the east there).
15. Poeppel Corner, G5 (1 in 3 chance there, if you didn't know where the Simpson was)
16. Cairns, I2 (further North than I thought, too).
17. 1770, K6 (Nice one, Aviatrix!)
18. Pt. Hedland, B7. The minerals quiz from the other day should have been a hint...)
19. Victoria Desert, E5-E6.
20. Big Desert, H7 (correctly guessed by email correspondent Joanna because "You like laughing at Victorians")
21. Hamilton Island, J3.
22. Rum Jungle, F1.
23. Eucla, E6 (the Bight is that big hole like someone's bitten the country)
24. Cape Grim, I9 (there's some stuff over there, just not much).
25. Kakadu, F1.

And that rounds out a mega week. Sorry it was such a marathon, guys, I may have got a little carried away playing with my maps again.

UnwiseOwl said...

So that gives 90 points to Joanna, who may well be some kind of freakish human hybrid who I may have to ban for being too darn clever, with John right behind on 80, and 60, 50 and 20 for dhkendall, Michael and Aviatrix respectively.

John said...

uh, are you sure about J6 for Broken Hill? It's right on the SA/NSW border, and j sure as hell ain't.

Equally, Port Hedland is *not* B7; it's up north, even if I was wrong about *where* north it is. B3 or C3 on your grid.

Regardless, cheers for the awesome quiz!

UnwiseOwl said...

Aha. You are right.
I've made a couple of typos based on trying to be too clever instead of writing out a nice clean answer sheet. You're right, Pt. Hedland is b3 and Broken Hill is H6...I marked correctly, just typed like a doofus.
Eagle eye there, John.

Aviatrix said...

I got two! Tricky that, using the same squares more than once.

Michael5000 said...

I think we got 4 @ 5 pts, Avia. I'm crushed, myself.