The Streets of Tawa Quest
Friday, October 17th, 2008

Eight teams (46 kids) took part in Friday evening's 'The Streets of Tawa Quest'. We started at the church hall, headed briefly up Hampton Hill Road, cut through to Lincoln Ave, wended our way to Lyndhurst Road and Kiwi Cres, through Larsen Park and the streets of Redwood before heading along a track through Redwood Bush (pitch black of course) and eventually back onto Larsen Cres where we ended up at the Brown residence.

Two or three teams got slightly lost on the final lap (so to speak) which meant that not all had reached the end destination by 9pm when their parents were arriving to pick them up. We came close to sending out a search party for one or two groups!

There were 30 questions to be answered along the way. Most were worth 20-30 points each, with harder ones worth 40 or more. In addition to that, the question sheet contained black & white photos of six letter boxes which we passed in different streets. All that the 'participants' had to do was list the streets in which those letter boxes were located. A bonus question featuring the 'whereabouts' of a covered motorcycle was worth 50 points. A good number of teams located that.

The maximum number of points available was 1250, 960 for the questions and 240 for the letterboxes, plus the bonus question. Points could be lost if teams were 'spotted', or if individuals were seen running, or separated from the rest of their groups.

Each group had to carry a plastic chair around the route. A certain vehicle was driving around with one of the leaders shooting a water pistol or shining a torch from the car, and those who were observed holding their chair rather than sitting in it as the car drove by forfeited a small number of points. It simply meant that the kids were kept 'on edge', moreso as it started getting dark halfway through.

Most teams did very well with their answers ... and some not quite so well.

ACTUAL RESULTS:

8th - Cool Kids
Alex T, Cameron, Daniel K, Daniel R, Jordan, Michael
690 points

7th - Gangster Rubber Ducks*/**
Drew, Jennifer, Laura Jane, Paige, Rachel M, Taylor
700 points

6th - Cabbages
Fergus, Nathan, Ollie, Sam L, Tim G, Tim W
900 points

4th= - Cuzzie Bros**
Breanna, Katie F, Katie M, Lauren
990 points

4th= - Afternoon Delight**
Alex E, Katie O, Michaela, Rachel W, Sharna
990 points

3rd - The Winnerboxes
Ashleigh, Emma, Hayden, Maddison, Mikaela, Teagan (Leader - Larissa)
1010 points

2nd - Kung Fu Teddies*/**
Courtney, Dana, Jodi, Rachel C, Sophie, Steph (Leader - Robyn)
1100 points

1st - The Pansies*
Alex S, Daniel L, Jacob, Jayden, Riley, Rowan, Samuel B (Leader - Peter)
1140 points out of a possible maximum of 1250

* These teams got all the letterbox questions right
** These teams got the bonus question completely correct