General Knowledge Quiz Report - Barbados '09

The Box of Frogs quiz team had been regulars on the Cheltenham pub quiz circuit for a number of years, so when the opportunity to enter a quiz where the prize was a trip to Barbados, arose...well, a drive down the M5 to Bristol CSSC didn't seem too onerous.

The seven-team heat was the last of three heats for the Barbados Challenge General Knowledge Quiz event (the previous ones had been held in Bournemouth and Exeter). The GCHQ team won with an impressive score of 92 out of 100, and went on to win the Grand Final on home turf at the Cheltenham Civil Service Club by a margin of 8 points. As a result, it was Barbados here we come!

Along with the other event winners from the South West region, the team was staying at the Blue Horizon Hotel at Rockley Beach in the Christchurch area of Barbados. We were informed that our Quiz Challenge against the Bajans would be held on the second night of the trip and, along with the Cribbage, Darts, Pool, Sports Quiz and, of course, the Dominoes competitors, we descended by bus on the Barbados Police Sports Club near Bridgetown to take on the Bajans, and the Challenge was on.

The South West team rose to the challenge, winning the quiz and, with support from the South East team who finished second, took the points at stake.

With the Quiz points in the bag, the team made the most of all the tours available, including the Jeep tour of the island, the Catamaran tour of the west coast (where we got the opportunity to swim with giant green turtles - amazing!), the Atlantis Submarine tour, and a fantastic outing organised by CSSC to Oistins, where the fishing boats offload their catch to the market stalls and on to the restaurants, where the delicious fayre is on the table within hours of being caught. Eating delicious seafood while tapping your feet to reggae music emanating from the nearby bars, the atmosphere is simply electric! You really do need to see it for yourself.