Blazing a Trail Trivia Quiz

Answer: Loch Ness

Loch Ness lies in the Great Glen valley, and under Loch Ness is the Great Glen Fault Line. The valley was carved by glaciers in the last Ice Age. The Loch is opaque, and about 23 km in length, making it hard to see Nessie when she's in a mood to be social; hope she does fall down the fault if there's ever an earthquake there! (Actually, it's unlikely, as the fault is largely inactive).

However, we did manage to have a good look at Urquhart Castle. In around 580, St Columba journeyed from Iona to visit Bridei, king of the Picts, at his court in Inverness. A Pictish brooch was discovered on the site. The castle was captured by Edward 1 (also known as the Hammer of the Scots) in about 1200 A.D.; but after it fell into the hands of the English in the late 1600s, it was blown up so that the Jacobites would be unable to use it as a base from which to launch attacks.

Answer: Lord's

The ground is named after its founder Thomas Lord, and is owned by the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC). It has two 'ends' - the Nursery End and the Pavilion End. Its current capacity is 30,000 though there is talk of expanding it, and there are two new stands under construction, one to be named after batsman John Edrich, MBE, and the other after the multi-talented Denis Compton. Kev visits the on-site museum which holds a lot of cricket memorabilia, including the Ashes urn, the trophy played for every few years in test matches between England and Australia.

Answer: Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

Indiana Jones (played by Harrison Ford) is asked by an art dealer to prevent the Holy Grail from falling into the wrong hands. A series of adventures takes him to the catacombs underneath the library in Venice ("ah, Venice!"). Then he and his adventuring friends travelled to the Canyon of the Crescent Moon, before retrieving the Grail by choosing wisely. Not long after, Sallah (John Rhys-Davies) made the discovery that Indiana was named after the dog.

Kev, on the other hand, stayed in Venice and enjoyed the open air Rialto Mercato by the edge of the Grand Canal, had coffee at the Trattoria Aquila Nera and visited the Basilica Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari. And naturally, had a slice at a hole-in-the-wall pizzeria.

Answer: Cable car

The Mount Faber line is the cable car to catch to the Sentosa terminus; it travels via Harbourmount station. The trip of 1.65 takes around half an hour. It is also possible to travel to Sentosa over the causeway bridge. The area, around 2km square, was a formerly a fishing village, but now is a well-developed entertainment area. Kev decided to spend some time on the replica pirate ship - I didn't have the heart to tell him that it is meant for kids!

Answer: Pewter

Hmmm, Kev might be a while. He has just spied the world's largest tankard - it's made of pewter; but it might take him a while to get through 2796 litres of beer. And he may have a headache aftrewards. But at least he'll get the full tour and learn that the Royal Selangor Pewter company was started by a Chinese immigrant to Malaya. And that if he wanted to, he could watch the craftsmen at work, or even have a turn at making a piece himself. All that banging....maybe another day.

Answer: Rotorua

After getting used to the strong sulphur smell pervading the whole Rotorua area, Kev makes his way to Whakarewarewa, billed as a living Maori village. It's set up in such a way as to show traditional cultural aspects of the Maori way of life. Kev wanders the streets, eating traditional food, and enjoying the pōwhiri, a Māori welcoming ceremony.

Then he moves over to one of the geothermal springs to watch as a fish and other food is cooked in it. Kev steps back hurriedly as one of the geysers lets off steam - and knocks over one of the nearby tiki totem poles in his haste. Hmm, is that bad luck? This lovely town deserves another visit soon - there is still more to do, like having a long soak in one of the hot springs!

Answer: Antonio Lopez de Santa Ana

Kev picks up a pamphlet on the town's namesake, Antonio Lopez de Santa Ana (sometimes spelled Anna) and reads that he was born in Xalapa, Mexico, in 1794. No wait, it also says he was born in 1792 in Jalapa. Kev realises that Xalapa and Jalapa are the same place. Whatever, it's the same guy who as a youth joined the military and became a colonel by the age of 26 (or was that 28?).

While the Battle of the Alamo is arguably the most famous battle in the Texas Revolution, that was by no means the only time Santa Ana bested the government troops. A few weeks after the Alamo, he defeated them again at Goliad. However, not long after that he met his match at the Battle of San Jacinto. Santa Ana tried to disguise himself as one of his soldiers; however, he was spotted and taken into custody. He held the Mexican presidency eleven times throughout his life and died in 1876 in Mexico City.

Answer: Goat

Called "capretto" in Italy, goat has been eaten for thousands of years across the world, including Africa, South and Central America, the Middle East, and India, as well as in Europe. Annually, goat meat accounts for around 6 percent of red meat consumption worldwide, and is a good source of iron with less saturated fat and cholesterol.

Kev decides that goat is a lot like lamb, slightly fatty with a bit of a gamey flavour. He discovers it is prepared in similar ways - over a spit, roasted in the oven, stewed, or with an accompanying sauce such as curry. He spies 'machito' on the menu and is reminded of haggis, as it created from the innards of a goat (heart, lung, kidneys and so on). Yum?

Answer: British Columbia

After the limestone quarry that was the family business was exhausted in around 1912, Jeannie Butchart had a vision to transform the empty space into a spectacular 22 hectare (55 acre) garden. It contains a tribute to the First Nations people of Canada, pavilions and grottos.

Its 50 gardeners keep it in superb condition. Kev wandered the incredible space happily, finding all his favourite flowers among the approximately 900 plants, puffed his way up the hilly woodland areas (he stopped at the top to 'enjoy the view' - sitting on a nearby bench) and then wandered past the waterfall flowing into a lake, where marvelled at the dancing fountains.

He took countless pictures and ended with coffee at the tearooms, and chatted to some members of the family, whom, he discovered, still own and run the park.

Answer: Impressionist

Kev really enjoyed his trip to Giverny, saying that Monet's works never cease to inspire. Monet grew up in Le Havre and this influenced his painting style; it allowed him to see how the changing sun was reflected in the moods of the sea, and taught him to observe nature. Starting out doing line-drawings in pencil, he developed his style under the tutelage of a local painter. Travelling to Africa added depth to his craft.

As his approach to art developed, his brushstrokes changed slightly, the first inkling of the impressionist style that would become his trademark. Monet eventually bought a place to paint in Giverny and filled it with the flowers that provided the riot of colour found in his later works.