NZ Geography Olympiad Team

Tuesday, August 1, 2017

Selfie Treasure Hunt

Libby Inwood here talking about the selfie treasure hunt in Vienna.

Teams were Yan Hao and Sarah, Jonty and I. There were twenty different points around the city we were required to take a selfie at. Jonty and i decided it was a good idea to run most of the way so that we could finish the quickest - a great idea when temperatures reached mid thirties.

The hunt took us all around the city from Parliament to the Museum Quarter and finishing off at the roof top of 25 Hotel.

When not able to find the spots on our own we were forced to speak to locals and try and communicate a way to get them to point out the directions.

Jonty and I ended up running in circles, not going in the correct order and having to back track quite a bit. Sarah and Yan Hao finished 16 minutes after us with 13/20, Jonty and I finished with 17/20 making us the winners!!

Monday, July 31, 2017

Visit to the NZ Embassy in Vienna

Hey it's Jonty here! On the morning of our second day in Vienna, we were lucky enough to visit the New Zealand Embassy. Here we meet a New Zealand diplomat and the New Zealand ambassador.

We spent a good couple of hours discussing NZs position in Austria and how they work with UN on issues such as nuclear power and weapons. This unique experience would definetely be a highlight to me for our time in Vienna.

Our time in Vienna

Hi, It's Yan Hao here. Our second day in Vienna was spent on the 'hop on and off bus.' We spent the first half of the day touring the city centre on the red line, seeing the sites and cobbled inner-city streets. Being up on the top of the double decker buses really gave us an elevated perspective on the city. The day was a scorcher and the air flow on the top of the bus was a real treat.

The red bus line circled the central 'area 1' district and we really engaged with the stunning architecture of Vienna. Some highlights of mine included the Stadtpark (city park), Hunderwasser house and Museum Hofburg. This route also crossed the Danube river and we saw the magnificent Danube Tower. Coming back towards the central city, we had decided to switch to the blue bus route and go see Schonbrunn palace, the city's primary tourist attraction. This must of been the most photographed attraction in Vienna, and it wasn't hard to see why. The castle was absolutely massive and the complementary gardens also proved to be a absolute treat. The temperature had truly soared by lunchtime, and several drinking taps gave us some welcome relief from the heat. I had a nice wee shower under one of these taps and after a few pranks on Simon, we made our way our way back to the bus where we hunted for a seat on the crowded upper level of the bus.

The Vienna city tour buses had truly given us a comprehensive summary of all the major tourist sites Vienna has to offer. It had been an absolute stunner of a day and we made our way back to our Airbnb as very happy tourists.

Pictures from our travel to Vienna

Massages at the airport in Bangkok (above) and the team as we went to board our flight in Auckland to Bangkok

We made it to Europe

We left our home towns on Friday morning (some earlier than others) and met up at Auckland Airport for our flight to Bangkok. It was great to reunite with the team as we haven't seen each other since the April training camp.

The flight to Bangkok was pretty good as the flight was only 2/3 full so we had a bit of space to spread around the cabin. Some of us were a bit to excited to sleep :) On arrival in Bangkok we headed and had a massage, snack, shop and another massage and raced to get on our plane.

The flight from Bangkok to Vienna was pretty full and we mostly all slept on this flight.

We arrived in Vienna at 5am ish and headed to our Air BnB Apartment in town. All feeling pretty good and keen for a shower

Tuesday, July 18, 2017

Our poster is ready to go

We are preparing for our departure on the 28th of July and have finished our poster for the presentation happening in Serbia.

Sunday, June 11, 2017

2017 iGeo Team Training Camp

From the 6th to the 9th of April the iGeo Team flew into Wellington for our training camp in Raumati on the Kapiti Coast. It was a chance for the four students - Libby, Sarah, Yan Hao and Jonty to get to know each other a bit better and for them to work on some of their preparation for the camp.

Over the weekend we worked on our poster, cultural presentation and some team building activities. The students did an awesome job at a mystery dinner challenge creating a three course meal from scratch for the whole team.

Here are some pictures from our weekend.

Libby, Yan Hao, Jonty and Sarah out and about working on their fieldwork

Amazing fried rice from the dinner challenge

Jonty's amazing chocolate brownie

The Team following the Easter Sandcastle competition on the beach

On our way home to Wellington to stopped at the top of Paekakariki Hill Rd to check out the amazing view

Friday, October 7, 2016

2017 iGeo Selection Day held in Wellington

On Monday 3rd October we hosted the 2017 iGeo Selection Day to select a team of four students to travel to Serbia. It was great to have 12 students from all around New Zealand attend the day. Students were selected to attend as they were the top entries in the NZBoGTs annual Year 12 essay competition. The day involved a range of written tests and a fieldwork exercise on the Wellington Waterfront.

Students selected to attend the day were:

Sarah	Hyne	Otumoetai College
Alfie	Richardson	John McGlashan
Dylan	Wilkie	Wanganui High School
Yan Hao	Tay	Burnside High School
Kaila	Robertson	Burnside High School
Shona	Mani	Rutherford College
Jamie	Struthers	Kerikeri High School
Libby	Inwood	Kerikeri High School
Samantha	Molloy	St Andrew's College
Jonny	Wispinski	Kings High School
Malachi	Buschl	Kings High School
Charlotte	Carter	Wellington East Girls' College
Reuben	Hill-Smith	Rongotai College

Students participated in field work along the Wellington Waterfront

We would like to thank all of the students for making the effort to come to Wellington for the iGeo Selection Day. We really enjoyed meeting all of them and thought that they showed exceptional geographic knowledge and were excellent representatives for your schools. We would also like to thank Wellington East Girls' College for hosting the event.

The team selected to travel to Serbia will be:

Jonty Wispinski - King’s High School

Libby Inwood - Kerikeri High School

Sarah Hyne - Otumoetai College

Yan Hao Tay - Burnside High School

We have also selected two non-travelling reserves:

Dylan Wilkie - Wanganui High School

Malachi Buschl - King’s High School

The New Zealand Geography Olympiad Team to Beijing, China 2016.

After nearly a year of training, preparation and fundraising the 2016 New Zealand team were all set to compete against 45 other countries in the 13th International Geography Olympiad (iGeo). Representing New Zealand were Isla Hutching-Bryant and Barnaby Roche from Wellington, Nick Webber from Auckland and Henry McCallum from Christchurch. Accompanied by team leaders, Nick Page and Louise Richards, the students were an absolute credit to their geography teachers, schools, and families.

The team flew out from Auckland and en route to Beijing had a stopover in Hong Kong. In Isla’s words: “we stopped off in Hong Kong for a few days to rest and ease ourselves into the heat and humidity we would be experiencing in China. From the moment we touched down our itinerary was full with activities like walking through the never ending markets, taking the Star Ferry across to Hong Kong Island and heading up Victoria Peak. Staying in this vibrant city was definitely great preparation for what we would encounter in Beijing”.

Feeling rested and acclimatised, the team flew from Hong Kong to Beijing – after the 11-hour flight from Auckland to Hong Kong the three-hour flight felt like a walk in the park! Arriving in Beijing at the same time as the Brazilian and Nigerian teams, everyone was soon making friends and we all set off together to our accommodation, the Beijing Convention Centre (BCC). This was a memorable first journey on Beijing’s motorways as the traffic, and driving, was certainly a contrast to anything we’d experienced in New Zealand!

After we settled into our accommodation we set out for our first excursion – the famous Bird’s Nest stadium built for the 2008 Olympic Games. Alas, while we were unable to recreate Usain Bolt moves on the 100m track or practise our sprint starts the stadium certainly offered up amazing architecture and views of the city.

The extent of the Olympic Park wowed the team, but thinking like geographers, the team were quick to question the legacy of the stadium and use of the facilities built. Returning from the Olympic Park it was time to get ready for the opening ceremony. It was here that the students had the chance to experience what schools were like in Beijing as both the ceremony and the competition exams which followed were held at the No.80 High School. A highlight of the opening ceremony were the various cultural performances performed by students from the No. 80 High School. Visiting teams were treated to a visual symphony of both tradition and modern chinese music and dance.

With all the new sights, experiences, team camaraderie and banter it was easy to forget we were here for a competition and the team soon found themselves in the examination room pitting their geographical knowledge and understanding against the best geographers in the world. As Nick Webber describes: “The competition was challenging to say the least. The written response and multimedia [exams] depended mainly on how well the questions suited you and your knowledge. The fieldwork worked well for us kiwis as it looked more so at critical thinking and evaluation as well as being a collaborative task. The theme for the fieldwork this year was eco cities and looked at Beijing's sustainability and liveability in terms of residential spaces, water management and traffic”.

To break the intensity of the examinations, excursions were often made to popular attractions around Beijing. As Barnaby reflects : “Excursions were to the Forbidden City, Summer Palace and The Great Wall. Each provided insight into the rich history thanks to our tour guide, Sunny, who was extremely enlightening. A team highlight was the iconic landmark, The Great Wall. A physical challenge in the heat was climbing the several kilometers of steps to the 12th Fortress – it was worth the views when we, eventually, reached the top!"

After six days of rigorous competition and excursions, the 13th iGeo concluded with a closing ceremony including medal presentations to the highest performing students. All of the NZ team members performed admirably, but a special mention must go to Barnaby Roche (Rongotai College) and Nick Webber (Pakuranga High School) who both achieved bronze medals for their efforts. This year’s competition was the biggest yet and the standard and calibre of students was very high.

The team concluded their time in Beijing with two extra days based in the older, traditional hutong area just to the north of the Forbidden City. Haggling in the Silk and Pearl markets for clothing and souvenirs, negotiating our way on the crowded subway system and deciding whether or not we were game enough (we were not!) to try delicacies like locusts or scorpions were all memorable experiences. An absolute highlight for the team was a half day guided cycling tour around the narrow lanes of the hutong districts. If you want to experience a completely different side to Beijing, then the team would highly recommend this!

The trip is certainly one the team will never forget. As Henry explains: “China was intense and much more frantic than New Zealand. It was interesting to explore a place and culture different to our own. In addition to the competition meeting other teams from across the globe was a highlight, in particular we spent a lot of time with Team Great Britain, creating firm friendships over the course of the competition”.

Geography is about developing our understanding of place and to critically evaluate our individual and collective decisions about our interactions with places. The Geography Olympiad, by way of its host city location and the global scale of the competition, certainly provides students with a unique, memorable and fantastic opportunity to do just that. We hope that more teachers will be inspired to enter their students into our national selection process for this prestigious competition in the years that follow!