Pi's What's Where in Haiku Trivia Quiz

Answer: Dartmoor

Dartmoor is indeed a wild place, with a climate of its own. Situated to the northeast of the coastal city of Plymouth in Devon, it can be bright and sunny down on the coast and impenetrably foggy up on the Moor. One of the great landmarks of Dartmoor is the grim prison at Princetown, originally built to house prisoners of the Napoleonic wars, and a sight to sink anyone's heart on approach. It is still in use.
The natural scenery of Dartmoor is stunningly beautiful, by turns golden with gorse and purple with heather, roamed by wild ponies and sheep. The 'tors' are the hills of Dartmoor, many of which are marked by huge granite outcrops.

Question by Invinoveritas

Answer: Switzerland

Switzerland is well known for looking after money very securely and very privately. The expression "The gnomes of Zurich" was a phrase coined by Labour politician George Brown as a disparaging term for Swiss bankers back in the 1960s. There is more to Switzerland than money though. It has beautiful, mountainous scenery. The Matterhorn is in Switzerland. They have been making chocolate in Switzerland since the 17th century and their products are noted for high quality. Unfortunately for the rest of us over half of their total production is consumed by the Swiss themselves.

Question by Christinap

Answer: Tierra del Fuego

Tierra del Fuego is an archipelago that lies right at the bottom of South America, in the Straits of Magellan, and belongs to Chile and Argentina. It was first discovered by Europeans in 1520 during one of Magellan's expeditions. It is believed that its name 'Tierra del Fuego' (Land of Fire) arose because of the smoke emitted by the fires of the native peoples - there are no volcanoes there. It has a cool, oceanic climate with short cool summers and long, wet winters which have allowed the survival of ancient glaciers.

Question by Invinoveritas

Answer: Uluru/Ayers Rock

Ayers Rock, known as Uluru to the local Anangu people, is the one of the largest monoliths, or single rocks, in the world. The rock is 348 m high, with most of its mass lying underground, and it has a total circumference of 9.4 km. There are springs, waterholes, caves and aboriginal art in the area which help to make it a popular tourist destination. It lies in the red sand plains and dunes of the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, and is 450 km southwest of Alice Springs. Archaeological findings indicate that humans have lived there for over 10,000 years. It is considered sacred to the local Aboriginal people and there are several legends that account for its existence. The first sighting of the rock by Europeans occurred in the 1870s during the exploration of the Western Desert. The surveyor, William Gosse, named it Ayers Rock after the then Chief Secretary of South Australia, Sir Henry Ayers. It has been listed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. When it changes colour at sunrise and sunset it is considered to be a very spiritual experience by those who have seen it.

Question by Calpurnia09

Answer: Monaco

The Principality of Monaco is a sovereign city state on the French Riviera. It is renowned for its status as a tax haven as well as its casinos. The House of Grimaldi was established in 1297 and has more or less ruled the principality in one form or another ever since. The American film actress, Grace Kelly, wed Prince Rainier III of Monaco in 1956 which, due to her fame, drew world attention to the tiny country. Rainier and Grace's son, Albert, assumed the throne in March of 2005. Among Monaco's other distinctions: a 0% unemployment rate, the highest life expectancy rate, and the most expensive real estate market in the world. Don't plan on moving to Monaco unless you have a few Swiss bank accounts lying around.

Question by barbarini

Answer: Great Barrier Reef

The Great Barrier Reef stretches for 2,600km along the coast of Queensland in the Coral Sea. It is large enough to be seen from space and is the world's biggest living structure, being composed of billions of tiny coral polyps. It is home to whales, porpoises, and over a thousand species of colourful fish, while six species of sea turtles breed there. The main threats to the reef are climate change, pollution from agricultural activity on the land, overfishing and oil spillages from the ships and tankers that use the reef as a shipping lane. There are periodic infestations of the crown-of-thorn starfish which destroy the corals.

Question by Calpurnia09

Answer: Queenstown

Skiing on 'The Remarkables' mountain range, jet-boat rides, hot-air ballooning, tandem sky-diving, and of course, bungy-jumping are all on offer in New Zealand's most popular tourist spot.
The other three options are also located in the South Island.


Question by Angelic54

Answer: Salisbury

Salisbury, in Wiltshire, has been a city since around 1220. It boasts the tallest cathedral spire in the country. Built in a meadow, the massive cathedral complete with its spire sits on foundations that are only eighteen inches deep, which make its continued survival something of a miracle.

The oldest part of the city is laid out in a grid pattern making it easy to navigate around. It has a thriving market in the old market square, and many cobbled streets still survive. During the Great Plague of London in 1665, Charles II moved the court to Salisbury for a time.

Despite its importance in the area, Salisbury is not the County Town of Wiltshire. That honour goes to Trowbridge, almost by default. Trowbridge gradually became the administrative centre for Wiltshire because in the 1880s it was the one place that could be easily reached by rail. Council meetings started to be held there because of the ease of transport, and it evolved into the County Town, pushing both Devizes and Salisbury aside.

Question by Christinap

Answer: China

China, with its huge population, is an ancient civilisation that has given the world such diverse blessings as tea, paper, gunpowder and silk. Printing and pasta also originated there. Possibly its most famous landmark is the Great Wall, built over two thousand years ago to protect the country. Despite the legends, the Wall is not visible from the moon, and, it would seem, only visible from earth orbit with the right kind of equipment. Being built of local materials, the Wall tends to blend into the scenery, making it very hard to spot.

Question by Invinoveritas

Answer: Rotorua

While all these towns have hot mineral pools, only Rotorua has bubbling mud-pools, and celebrates Maori culture in a big way.

Question by Angelic54