A balmy Wairarapa evening. One of the many all-time good Ruakokopatuna people had cut the grass.
Tables were set. The barbeque was lit and everyone had brought a salad, millionaires’ shortbread, award winning chocolate brownie, bacon and egg pie or barbeque item to make a smorgasbord on a P&O cruise look positively KFC.
Why an International quiz night? Because Raphael came all the way from Bordeaux especially for the challenge. The pre-quiz tension was rising and it was palpable. A mixture of excitement and anxiety.
Everyone got points and everyone got prizes, varying from a cauliflower seedling to a bag of limes, a Toblerone and some legendary SAMOSAS.
Then a home-grown well-prepared chaotic shambles started in which questions were asked, answers given and points scored. There was jeering, complaining, heckling and laughter.
What is the main use of New Zealand’s ‘Drysdale Wool’?
What was the date of NZ’s first MMP election?
Which city is further north – New Delhi or Kathmandu?
Which was the only country to have a flag of a single colour – green?
Which two counties have a square flag?
Which Kiwi won the gold medal in high jump at the Paris Olympics?
What is the first name of the now retired English footballers Phil and Gary Neville’s father?
Feijoas are native to which continent?
What is the 3-letter abbreviation for the compound which can cause headaches and poor sleep but used as a flavour enhancer: C5H8NO4Na
About 40 people packed the hall and battled it out against all the local intelligentsia. Silent But Deadly in the corner came a modest second. Highly-charged 12 Volts took the Trophy. Birds plus One had the team question of the night. The Frenchman got all the French questions correct and Hardly whooped with joy at every point they got, despite mid-quiz their numbers suddenly increasing by 50% with a disproportionate increase in brain power.
It was Friday evening, everyone had had long busy days, it was relax and wind down time with your mates and a drink with a conduit for fun, noise and a get together. A real community event.
At the end there was only a mere few points between the trophy and wooden spoon. There was a tie break won by a gnats whisker by the Seniors. ‘TREES’ was the answer!! The question can’t be printed.
The point is – it was the community who made it all happen. A FUN raiser which seemed to raise a lot of fun. Finally. Thanks to everyone for coming and making it happen. It’s a great little community we’ve got in Ruakokopatuna, filled with great folks.
