The Online Geography Game
This spot is the location of a rather beautiful railway station, now abandoned. However the railway line is still in operation with trains to Sukhomi and Moscow.
Found despite no stopping traffic:
After the hint:
Sitting about 100KM north of the Arctic Circle, Røst nevertheless has a mean winter temperature above freezing. A confluence of the Gulf Stream, the North Atlantic Current, and the Norwegian Current are responsible for this little oasis of (relative) warmth.
Those who found this place, all before the hint, were:
Approximate coordinates: 039.9771276 N 113.4862223 E
If you have social media, you’ve likely seen a meme with one of these artist markups of this place:
Built as part of the “Belt and Road Initiative”, this 50MW plant produces about 1/2 the power for the Datong region. There are 100 more panda-shaped plants being planned throughout Asia and the Pacific Islands by Panda Green Energy, with one planned in Fiji as well.
Those who found it without the hint:
And after the hint:
Approximate coordinates: 60.458595°, 22.289610°
The concept of Finnish artist Alvar Gullichsen, Posankka has been in its current location since 2001. It started out in 1999, however, as a floating work of art:
Posankka is a hybrid between a marzipan pig and a rubber duck. While Cullichsen has never said so, many believe it to be a statement against genetic engineering.
At Christmas time, the statue wears a Santa hat:
Those who successfully mixed these two species before the hint were:
And after the hint:
Approximate Coordinates: -37.776347, 144.929374
This food truck lot in suburban Melbourne provides a canvas for artist Kitt Bennett’s ambitious work “Go to Bed”. You can see his process in this video
The image in the hint can be found here: -37.711775, 144.992511
Those who found it before the hint were:
and after the hint:
Approximate Coordinates: 63.8683, -22.6755
Continental Drift theory tells us that the Mid-Atlantic Ridge is the boundary between the North American plate and the Eurasian plate. Almost all of this ridge is covered by thousands of feet of Atlantic Ocean, but in this small peninsula in Iceland, the ridge is exposed. The “Leif the Lucky Bridge”, aka “The Bridge Between Continents” crosses over a section of the rift created by the edges of the plates being pushed away from each other.
Clearly, this is not the only “Bridge between continents” out there; there are at least 2 in Istanbul, but this is the only one across these 2 plates.
Those who took the walk before the hint were:
And after the hint:
In 2002, His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama was visiting the South Island of New Zealand. While in Christchurch, he felt uneasy about the energy of the city. He was told that a church there was built from rock quarried from a location nearby and asked to be taken to the site. He was instantly enamored with the landscape.
Before leaving the location, he declared that Castle Hill was a “Spiritual Center of the Universe”
Those who joined the Dalai Lama there included:
and after the hint:
The Samà family were renowned politicians in the kingdom of 1800’s Spain. Savador Samà i Martì lived and helped govern Cuba, his son Savador Samà i Torrents followed in his political footsteps in the continental kingdom holdings — among other titles, he was Mayor of Barcelona.
In 1881, the younger Salvador Samà commissioned a vacation house to be built in the Catalan countryside near the town of Cambrils. He wanted the home surrounded by gardens that reminded him of his childhood in Cuba. He found Josep Fontserè to manage the project. Mr. Fonserè had a long history of association with the great architect Antoni Gaudí, and he convinced the master to provide him with his genius and vision.
Gaudí was deep into the design of Sagrada Familia but broke some time free and helped his friend with the design.
Those who found the park before the hint were:
and after the hint:
Where else do you find a plane covered in flowers?!
The Dubai Miracle Garden is a flower garden located in the district of Dubailand, Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The garden was launched on Valentine’s Day in 2013. The garden occupies over 72,000 square metres, making it the world’s largest natural flower garden featuring over 50 million flowers and 250 million plants. It’s not open from May to November because of the heat and when it is open uses about 750,000 litres of water a day. Not a small amount for a desert location.
One can find weird and wonderful stuff in the desert – and these folks did:
After the hint:
An easier one this week, based on the number of correct responses – the BC Ferries terminal at the north end of Vancouver Island / south end of the ferry route to Prince Rupert.
Once a day, a ferry leaves heading north through the Inside Channel to places like Bella Bella, Klemtu and eventually Prince Rupert.
Found the right ferry terminal:
After the hint: none