Kiwis win cross Tasman challenge
Cross Tasman challenge: Respected quiz master “Buzz” Burrell (aka Big Bird) ran the videoconferenced competition from Otago University.
It may not have been the Bledisoe Cup, but the rivalry between the New Zealand and Australian teams was just as fierce. And the teams were competing for a prize just as important for them….the coveted Pat Farry Trophy.
Year 3B and 4C students from both Sale and Bairnsdale sites selected a combined team to compete against the Year 5 NZ students studying in the Rural Medicine Immersion Program with Otago University.
This time it was New Zealand who recorded a narrow win over SRH East & South Gippsland in the annual cross Tasman challenge.
The quiz is held annually to commemorate the late Dr Pat Farry, a Queenstown GP committed to rural health education. A leading NZ and international rural practitioner, educator and administrator, Dr Farry died suddenly while doing a solo locum job in a small town on the South Island. Just about all of the rural training initiatives in NZ, including the Otago Rural Immersion Program and the Monash/Otago exchange, are due to Dr Farry’s work.
The coveted trophy has been held for the past three years by the Aussies so the New Zealand students were determined to win it back. And they did!
With Quiz Master David “Buzz” Burrell resplendent as Big Bird, the challenge of 30 questions tested not just medical knowledge but a range of areas of combatant interest between the two nations such as sport and general knowledge…possibly even some with a national bias.
The contest was a close one and the final score of NZ 31 to Australia 30 reflected the long held rivalry between the two countries. The cup goes to New Zealand for the next year but the Aussies have already set their sights on regaining it next year.