As you may have seen on YouTube and/ or the news, Alex Tribec hurt himself in the hotel. But that's not important right now. As I'm sure you know, Russia and Canada battled it out in a dead heat final with Chinese Taipei falling back into third place, despite the fact that they commenced the competition in excellent form. Ultimately, Russia won the competition, having blown everyone away with their expansive geographical knowledge. Following the celebrations, we began a tour of Google HQ, which proved to be a fascinating experience. The campus was equipped with a whole of facilities- though I can't tell you about them due to privacy reasons and yahoo stealing los informaciones.
After riding the Google bus (with free WiFi!) back to the hotel, we had a quick gym-swim-spa session, before arriving to the last supper [this time without Jesus :( ] to exchange gifts and emails (not bread and wine)
After a PARTAY for the second place Canadians, we headed off to bed ridiculously late.
THURSDAY
Today we caught the BART subway service to the Berkley University: a beautiful campus with plenty of stuffz. After one final shopping spree, we departed for the airport, ready for the outgoing flight. After a short scare about Rajiv lacking a seat, we are now all waiting for our plane, with guaranteed seats.
London, here we come!
(Other than Matthew. He's still in San Fran, having some extra holiday time)
Over and Out!
Thursday, 28 July 2011
Wednesday, 27 July 2011
Our Day Off
Tuesday was our day for relaxing after two days of competition. We took a minibus across the Golden Gate Bridge shrouded in thick fog. First stop was the Point Reyes National Park. The Park stretches across part of the San Andreas Fault and we were shown around by the Park Ranger who told us about the effects of the 1906 earthquake in California.
A winding coastal drive took us to Stinson Beach where the Pacific breakers rolled up the beach. However, the fog had not cleared from here and the temperature was about 4 degrees lower. Our final stop was at Muir Woods another national park where the native coastal redwood trees are found. These are one of the tallest species tress in the world. Another chance to spend money in the gift shop before returning to the hotel.
At last a chance to do some shopping - the Aussies and the Brits joined forces to hit Macy's, Urban Outfitters, Abercrombie and Fitch and the Westfield Mall. Dinner was in Chevy's mexican restaurant three blocks from the hotel. Then we returned to the hotel for a colossal international card game.
Competition now! - watch us live on YouTube! www.youtube.com/user/nationalgeographic 6.30pm GMT.
A winding coastal drive took us to Stinson Beach where the Pacific breakers rolled up the beach. However, the fog had not cleared from here and the temperature was about 4 degrees lower. Our final stop was at Muir Woods another national park where the native coastal redwood trees are found. These are one of the tallest species tress in the world. Another chance to spend money in the gift shop before returning to the hotel.
At last a chance to do some shopping - the Aussies and the Brits joined forces to hit Macy's, Urban Outfitters, Abercrombie and Fitch and the Westfield Mall. Dinner was in Chevy's mexican restaurant three blocks from the hotel. Then we returned to the hotel for a colossal international card game.
Competition now! - watch us live on YouTube! www.youtube.com/user/nationalgeographic 6.30pm GMT.
Monday, 25 July 2011
A Day at the Zoo!
After an early breakfast we boarded the coaches and headed for a secret location which was to be the venue for the second part of the quiz. After being told we were going to Las Vegas by the driver we ended up at San Francisco Zoo. We were then escorted to a huge tent laid out with the tables with flags on again. We spread our Union Flag across our table like a tablecloth. After introductions from National Geographic and Google we set off on a orienteering type competition requiring us to run around the zoo visiting various animal compounds, answering questions at each. We got lost twice, but Rajiv did a good job of directing us overall. The questions were much easier today and we felt more confident as we handed in our answers. We then all assembled back in the tent to find that we had not made the final. the top three teams competing in the final are Canada, Russia and Taiwan. We are proud to have taken part in the competition and we all tried our best. However, a place in the final was not to be. We were then shown around the zoo by a group of girls who worked there on a voluntary basis during the holidays.
The afternoon was spent visiting famous sites, such as Lombard Street, Fisherman's Wharf and Pier 39 where we had a prawn dinner in a bayside restaurant.
It's the final on Wednesday at Google headquarters and you can follow it live on YouTube. We'll wave to you from the audience!
The afternoon was spent visiting famous sites, such as Lombard Street, Fisherman's Wharf and Pier 39 where we had a prawn dinner in a bayside restaurant.
It's the final on Wednesday at Google headquarters and you can follow it live on YouTube. We'll wave to you from the audience!
Sunday - the competition begins
Got up early and straight after breakfast we went to the competition room. Each team had a table with their flag on it. They gave out the question papers with multiple choice questions and map questions on it. We worked through the ones we could answer and then went back to try and work out the ones we didn't know. Overall we found the test difficult, but we did our best.
Then we went to the San Francisco Giants baseball game. For the World Series Champions, not many point were scored. We found the experience but not one we will be repeating in the near future!! We then decided we had enough time to cross the Golden Gate Bridge on a bus. However, the biggest traffic jam in the world meant that we spent 3 and a half hours crossing and returning making us late for our chinese meal in Chinatown.
We went back to the hotel and played cards with our good friends the Australians. Second part of the competition tomorrow.
Then we went to the San Francisco Giants baseball game. For the World Series Champions, not many point were scored. We found the experience but not one we will be repeating in the near future!! We then decided we had enough time to cross the Golden Gate Bridge on a bus. However, the biggest traffic jam in the world meant that we spent 3 and a half hours crossing and returning making us late for our chinese meal in Chinatown.
We went back to the hotel and played cards with our good friends the Australians. Second part of the competition tomorrow.
Saturday, 23 July 2011
First Day
We were all starving as we didn't get any food on the second leg of our journey and we'd been so tired when we got to the hotel we fell straight into bed. We found breakfast at a typical American diner, just a block from the hotel. All three of us had a huge cooked breakfast, Matthew's and Jamie's were so big it came on two plates each!
When we got back to the hotel we picked up our backpacks provided by the National Geographic organisers which contained a fleece, a T-shirt and a polo shirt for us to wear during the week. By now, the Australians had appeared so we all went to the Golden Gate Park and spent a few hours in the Museum of Science. We saw an amazing aquarium, penguins at feeding time, a rainforest thriving in its own temperature and humidity-controlled bubble and watched the universe come alive in the Planetarium.
Back on the trolley bus to the hotel where Rajiv and Jamie went for a swim and Matthew did some more revision. The first test is tomorrow morning and it's getting close!
By the time we went to dinner at 7pm in the hotel, all the other teams had arrived and we all had team photos taken and were introduced to each other. A last minute team talk from Sue and a bit more revision in Matthew's room before we all went to bed to get a good night's sleep before tomorrow. Wish us luck!
When we got back to the hotel we picked up our backpacks provided by the National Geographic organisers which contained a fleece, a T-shirt and a polo shirt for us to wear during the week. By now, the Australians had appeared so we all went to the Golden Gate Park and spent a few hours in the Museum of Science. We saw an amazing aquarium, penguins at feeding time, a rainforest thriving in its own temperature and humidity-controlled bubble and watched the universe come alive in the Planetarium.
Back on the trolley bus to the hotel where Rajiv and Jamie went for a swim and Matthew did some more revision. The first test is tomorrow morning and it's getting close!
By the time we went to dinner at 7pm in the hotel, all the other teams had arrived and we all had team photos taken and were introduced to each other. A last minute team talk from Sue and a bit more revision in Matthew's room before we all went to bed to get a good night's sleep before tomorrow. Wish us luck!
Friday, 22 July 2011
Travelling
Arrived in Toronto after an 8 hour flight from Heathrow. Completely disorientated and debilitated. About to board flight to San Francisco, but still wired on GMT. 32 hour fridays aren't particularly enjoyable. Practiced a little bit on the way, testing each other and scouring atlases. Upon arriving at Toronto, the view of the CN tower and the downtown Yonge Street on the shores of Lake Ontario was breathtaking. Oh, we're being called for boarding now. See you tomorrow!
Wednesday, 20 July 2011
NEARLY TIME TO GO!
Matthew, Jamie and Rajiv are starting their final preparations for their trip to San Francisco. It is there that they will take part in the World Geography Championships, as the team from the United Kingdom. There will be three aprts to the competition, a written test, an outdoor challenge and the final, to be held this year at Google Headquarters. We set off on Friday from Heathrow at 3pm and after changing in Toronto, we arrive in San Francisco at 10pm local time. Teams from 18 other countries, including Australia, Hungary and Nigeria will be taking part in the competition too. Wish us luck and keep up to date with how we are doing through this Blog!
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