You Didn't Want to do That Trivia Quiz

Answer: James Cook

Captain James Cook is known for his circumnavigation of New Zealand and his discovery of Botany Bay. Cook made three global navigations of the world and was involved in the exploration of Newfoundland, St Lawrence River, New Zealand, eastern Australia and finally Hawaii. Unfortunately, in Hawaii Cook met his death.

Answer: Ferdinand Magellan

Magellan, from Portugal, was searching for the spice islands in the 1500s. The voyage was a combination of battles including those againt the sea, mutiny, distance, the unknown and of course the confrontation that resulted in the death of Magellan himself in the Philippines. The Pacific Ocean was named by Magellan.

Answer: George Bass

George Bass disappeared somewhere in the Pacific Ocean. Leaving Australia in 1803 to go to Tahiti for trading and supplies, he never made it. There were rumours that Bass intended to go to Chile, which was occupied by the Spanish, to undertake some illegal trading. It has also been suggested that Bass was taken prisoner by the Spanish.

Answer: Percy Fawcett

Percy Fawcett disappeared in Brazil in 1925. It is unknown what happened to him and theories are from being eaten by animals, killed by natives, turning into a native have all been put forward. Fawcett was obsessed with finding a lost city which he called Z or some say El Dorado, which reportedly was lined with treasure.

In 2004 "The Observer" newspaper released a story that Fawcett was not going to return to London but instead set up a commune in the jungle.

Answer: George Mallory

Mallory took part in the first three British expeditions to try to reach the summit of Mt Everest. During the third expedition Mallory and his climbing partner, Andrew Irvine, disappeared. Seventy-five years later Mallory's body was discovered.

Answer: Timbuktu

Daniel Houghton in the 1700s went further into northern Africa than any other European explorer. It is believed that he became nervous of his guide and returned by himself to Tana, where the locals did not help him and he died of starvation.

Answer: Ludwig Leichhardt

Leichhardt had undertaken extensive exploration of Northern Queensland and the Northern Territory, having been given a number of awards for his explorations. Leichhardt wanted to travel to the Swan River in Western Australia when he disappeared, never to be found again.

It is believed that Leichhardt was lost some where in either the Gibson Desert or the Sandy Desert. Many an expedition has been undertaken to uncover the mystery of his disappearance.

Answer: San Francisco

A disastrous expedition where Richard Halliburton attempted in 1939 to travel by a Chinese junk to said across the Pacific Ocean from Hong Kong to San Francisco, meeting his demise in what is believed to the Midway Islands. Halliburton was a traveller, adventurer and author, who was an achiever, including having swum the Panama Canal.

Answer: Northwest Passage

Captain John Franklin was searching for the Northwest Passage to secure the discovery of the Arctic Circle. Franklin has an important history with Australia prior to his exploration of the northern hemisphere.

Answer: Robert Falcon Scott

Shackleton, having failed to win the race to the South Pole, persuaded the British to have a second attempt with Robert Scott leading the Terra Nova expedition to the Antarctica in 1910.