Getting Lost with The Connection Quiz

Answer: Maipo Valley

The Maipo Valley is not in Argentina but in Chile, just south of the capital city, Santiago. It is the largest and most famous of the Chilean wine growing areas.

The Mendoza area would be Argentina's equivalent of Chile's Maipo Valley. Home to the Malbec grape, approximately 1.5 billion litres of wine are produced in this region annually. Mendoza is a lovely area to visit in the foothills of the Andes. It's a modern community, having largely been entirely rebuilt during the 20th century, following a devastating earthquake in 1861. San Juan province is second to Mendoza in terms of wine production in Argentina. Cafayate, in Salta province specializes in the Torrontes grape, which produces an aromatic white wine. The surrounding area offers tremendous scenery and the roads from Cafayate to Cachi and Salta provide provide one "wow" moment after another in the "vista" department.

Maddogrick has shared with us his love of South American, and her wine!

Answer: Mahabaleshwar, India

Located a few hours drive from Mumbai, Mahabaleshwar is well-worth the effort to visit. With the superb and varied views from its "points" situated over the Western Ghats and dense evergreen forests, no wonder it was chosen as the summer capital of the Bombay province during the British Raj. If you arrive during the monsoon season you will also learn that wrapping buildings is not a late 20th century modern art stint. As for the bar scene, after the fifth glass of the most fresh strawberry juice I am ever going to sip, the vendor looked at me, smiled and hit me with a sixth one on the house, sorry, on the cart. Great memories indeed (given that I am sparing you the story of the green tree snake).

gentlegiant17's fond remembrance of India also includes a liquid refreshment!

Answer: Its shore features small stone-like clay formations that resemble buttons.

Button Bay is on the east shore of Lake Champlain, just a few miles outside Vergennes, which at one time was the smallest incorporated city in the United States. The concreted bits of clay, which abound on the shore around Button Bay, sport two small holes in a round disc, and look remarkably like buttons. They can actually be used as buttons if you want to travel there to pick them up!

austinnene remembers unusual rock formations from her travels.

Answer: Busan

Busan is the second largest metropolitan city in South Korea, by a rather large margin. It is, however, the largest port, with a population of nearly four million people. It's a popular tourist spot, and the city is hoping to host the 2020 Summer Olympic Games.

Donning his professorial hat, christopherm instructs us about one of his favourite parts of the world.

Answer: All of these

The Bay of Islands was named by Captain Cook in 1769 and it is the first area in New Zealand to be settled by Europeans. The bay has many historic towns and is one of the most popular fishing, sailing and tourist destinations in the country. The bay is 16 km wide and in the 1930s Zane Gray, an American author, publicised the big game fishing in the region.

Soozy_Woozy shares some fond memories from her time in New Zealand.

Answer: Itsukushima Shrine

The island's real name is Itsukushima and although the present shrine dates from the twelfth century, the first shrine buildings were erected on the island in the sixth century. At low tide, when the gates are exposed, visitors can walk out to the torii, and it is common practice to place a coin in the cracks and make a wish.
Torii mark the entrance to the sacred space of a shrine, and the act of passing under the torii, along with washing your hands and mouth, purify a person before entering the inner shrine to offer prayers. Entering a Shinto shrine in an a state of uncleanliness would defile the shrine grounds.

jondalah is impressed with the spirituality of Japan.

Answer: Great Zimbabwe, a walled city and trading center of some 20,000 people

Great Zimbabwe (the other options do not exist) can be seen today as three complexes of stone ruins that spread over 200 square miles (500 square kilometres). Its walls and towers, high and solid despite having been built without mortar, are a monument to the craftsmanship and wealth of the people who built the city between 1250 and 1450 AD -- probably ancestors of the modern Shona people. Several structures are decorated with soapstone carvings of a bird in profile, now a powerful symbol of the nation of Zimbabwe.

The city had long been abandoned when European colonists arrived; the newcomers went to extreme lengths to "prove" that it could not possibly have been built by natives of southern Africa. By the time of Zimbabwean independence, the ruins had a proud place in patriotic culture, and their name -- which means "stone house" -- was an obvious choice for the name of the country. Sadly, mismanagement and abuse in the decades after independence led Zimbabwe to have the lowest life expectancy in the world in 2006 -- but Great Zimbabwe offers hope that that the people will once again be able to accomplish great things.

CellarDoor imparts her enthusiasm for this beautiful African country.

Answer: Huatulco

Huatulco is a lovely, clean, unspoiled area with unique beach areas to the west and south, and coffee-plantation mountains to the east. It is uncrowded, has ideal weather, and offers a range of activities and experiences that will appeal to anyone who visits. Wildlife is abundant in its natural habitat, it scarcely rains, and prices are right for lodging and meals.

austinnene fondly remembers her time in Mexico.

Answer: The sculptor's wife

The Little Mermaid statue was sculpted by Edvard Erichson in 1910 and presented to the city of Copenhagen by officials of the Carlsberg Breweries in 1913. When first working on the fated-to-be famous statue, Erichson though that the popular solo ballerina, Ellen Price, would make the perfect model. But, on being told that the statue was to be naked and would occupy a very prominent spot in the city, Price opted to back out of the deal. Instead, Erichson's wife stepped in and provided the sculptor with the inspiration he needed to complete the sad-faced masterpiece.

gretas' choice of question just might be influenced by family!

Answer: Nakdong River

At approximately 521 km., the Nakdong is only slightly longer than the Han river. It passes through Busan, South Korea's second largest city.

christopherm's love for his home of choice does the country proud.

Answer: Shenzhen

For good and bad, Shenzhen is as forceful as a tour de force can get. In less than 30 years, a fisherman's village metamorphosed into a massive steel and concrete jungle. And the momentum does not stop, as it is still considered one of the world's fastest growing cities. The proximity to Hong Kong is, of course, a major consideration in erecting this boomtown, which nowadays is mainland China's second busiest port, has its own stock exchange and is due to host the 2011 Universiade.

gentlegiant17 is impressed by this thriving Chinese city.

Answer: Murrumbidgee River

The mighty Murray travels from the Snowy Mountains (home of Australia's highest mountain, Mt Kosciuszko), 2500 kilometers to the lake that borders the Southern Ocean. The Murrumbidgee also rises in the Snowy Mountains but heads through the Australian Capital Territory and southern New South Wales, before joining the main river. The Campaspe joins at the historic town of Echuca, as does the Goulburn River, and the Ovens River drains much of Eastern Victoria before meeting the Murray at Yarrawonga.

ozzz2002 shares some information about his native Australia.

Answer: a projecting horseshoe-shaped walkway with a glass floor

The Skywalk was actually commissioned by, and is owned by, one of the local tribes - the Hualapai. It is not built directly over the main body of the Grand Canyon, but has been constructed on a side canyon, in Grand Canyon West.

The Skywalk extends approximately 20 metres from the canyon's edge and the floor is glass - offering an incredible view of the canyon below. Many visitors are reduced to crawling around the U-shaped structure, as the view down into the canyon floor is incredibly daunting. Many fail to even make it around the walk and simply choose to take in the incredible local views instead.

As one of the few Lost Connection members to have actually visited the Grand Canyon, Nannanut shares her impressions from her visit.

Answer: Alberta

Located 48 KM north of Brooks Alberta, and about two hours east of Calgary, Dinosaur Provincial Park offers some of the richest fossil beds in the world, with an amazing variety of fossilized animals represented. Located in the Red Deer River Valley, the park boasts fossils of freshwater vertebrates, amphibians, mammals and reptiles.
Visitors can either spend the day, or pitch a tent (or trailer) and stay a while. Walking trails lead you to fossilized dinosaur remains, protected by Plexiglas, but left where they were uncovered. Or a bus tour can take you to watch an archaeological dig in progress.
Badlands is a name given to any area where the soft, dry soil and rocks have been subjected to extreme erosion. This results in some strikingly beautiful rock formations that wouldn't look out of place on the moon. Legend has it that the name Badlands was given by early pioneers who found the terrain extremely difficult to cross.

Alberta is a western Canadian province, situated between British Columbia to the west, and Saskatchewan to the east. The capital of Alberta is Edmonton, but Calgary is the largest city. Known for its cold winters, Alberta offers Canadians the vastness of the open prairies and the majesty of the Rocky Mountains, as well as the stark beauty of the Badlands.

skunkee offers up an area of her native Canada, that might not be as well known as some.

Answer: Panguna

Panguna is the name of the town where Bougainville Copper Ltd started extracting copper, gold and silver. A major highway was built to assist transportation to and from the local port at Loloho and the airport at Kieta. The mine employed approximately 4000 people, including Bougainvilleans and specialised workers from all over the world.

Bougainville Island has beautiful beaches, rugged mountain ranges, and lush rainforest vegetation. There are two active volcanoes which, together with a very high rainfall, result in lush vegetation. Cocoa used to be the major cash crop on Bougainville, until the copper ore was discovered.

In the late 60s local land owners noticed that they were not benefiting from the mine profits and that the Jaba River was becoming polluted. In the late 1980s these leaders formed what was called the Bougainville Revolutionary Army and they caused much havoc and some deaths at the mine. The mine has been closed since 2005.

Soozy_Woozy gives us some of the industrial history of New Guinea.