On November 21, 2014, Andrew posted the first of the contests that would define the “Andrew and Paul era” of WhereOnGoogleEarth. We felt that it would be appropriate to come full circle back to Nanisivik, Baffin Island, Canada.
Feel free to go back to his original reveal for that contest to see what was happening then. Clearly, the mine site is in a state of rehabilitation, but also clearly, there is a long way to go with that. Not going to dwell on this contest too much as this is about transition.
Those who found it before the hint:
- Lighthouse
- Phil Ower
- Garfield
And after the hint:
- Martin de Bock
- Zorro the Fox
- Paul Voestermans
- Graham Hedley
In our era, there have been:
638 contests (including 13 for #600, 13 for #700 and 26 for #800).
over 8000 comments, the vast majority correct answers from 350 unique usernames.
We had no contests with 0 responses before the hint, 3 with only 1 (498, 642, and 950) and 8 with only 2 (including #377, the infamous “12°34’56″N 12°34’56” W” post)
On the other side of the coin, we had #667 with 28 answers before the hint and #423 with 27 before the hint. (I didn’t include 600, 700, or 800 in my calculations because they were special).
We’ve been to 135 countries (somehow missed 85 others) for a total of 61% of the world’s countries. We’ve been from 71 degrees north to 78 degrees south, 177 degrees east to 177 degrees west (ok, that’s not that far apart, but you have to consider we went the long way around!!) We’ve been on top of mountains in the Himalayas and to the lowest places like the Dead Sea and Death Valley.
To our detriment, Andrew and I leaned heavily into the US (145 contests) and Canada (44). I’m quite pleased that our new admins are from diverse places and hopefully that North America centrism will diminish.
None of this would have been possible without you – the people who slog through maps and try to pick out minute details in hopes of finding the clue, that little hint, that takes you to the exact spot. From the bottoms of our hearts, we thank you for your time, your efforts, your patience and understanding. This has been a VERY FUN adventure, one that will define us for a very long time.
A couple of our distinguished and long time players are taking a stab at keeping the game going and interesting. Andrew and I completely trust them as they have showed time and time again that they know the planet we live in and can shepherd us all through glances of interesting spots on that globe.
I’ll add a few extra words to what Paul has said. I want to thank him for his support and friendship over the past ten plus years. It was great having a counterpart who would take over when it seemed like a lot of work to publish three posts a week. As Paul has said, we’ve transitioned the game over to two excellent players in Ashwini and Horvath who will take players to more weird and wonderful locations across this beautiful earth. Take care and keep playing!!
