The south end of the beach at Hua Hin, Thailand.
Where are Kevin and Ruth now? Hua Hin, Thailand.

Where are Kevin and Ruth going next? Maldives on March 23rd.

Saturday, June 15, 2013

It would seem that we're in the final five!

And that we now have a 1 in 5 chance at winning a $10,000 trip to Namibia!

Thanks to all of our facebook fans who voted for us every day! It's now in the hands of the judges.

The contest closed at midnight Eastern Standard Time, so that was 10:00pm our time. Here's how the scores were for the top nine entries...

There's us, in 3rd place!

The rules said that they would announce the five finalists today, and the winner "on or about June 20". But last night, the Namibia Tourism Board facebook page posted an update...

Competition closed! Thanks to all those who entered our Landscape Escape competition. We've seen some pretty sad entries, but luckily one of you will be whisked off to some of the best landscapes in the world - Namibia! Our winner will be announced on Wednesday 19 June. Stay tuned....

So I would expect that we won't hear anything more until Wednesday, but we'll keep you updated if there's anything to announce.

We think we've got a pretty good chance of winning, but we're trying not to get too optimistic. The final five are supposed to be judged...

The Judges will judge each entry based on the following equally weighted judging criteria:
Adherence to theme
Photo Relevance
Originality
Creativity

Given that the theme was "drab landscape" and you had to post an original photo that illustrates "your most boring view" along with a photo Essay description (not to exceed 50 words), we think we did pretty well.

Here was our entry (for those of you who don't do facebook)...

Drab Landscape!
Drab: Lacking brightness or interest; drearily dull. Landscape: a section of rural scenery, usually extensive, that can be seen from a single viewpoint. This is the middle of Saskatchewan, Canada. We like to explore new places and experience new things. There's not much of that here for miles!

You only had 50 words with which to write your essay description. I know our photo is the best one out of the five finalists for "adherence to theme" and "photo relevance", it's just hard to say how we'll do with "originality" and "creativity". I don't see how the other entries were any more original or creative than ours.

Anyhow, now we wait. Thanks again for putting up with our vote reminders every day. I swear, we will never enter a contest that requires voting again! Yeah, I know...we said that after the Australia contest fiasco last year.

So, what's the plan if we win?

Well, the Namibian Tourism Board would get quite a bit of bang for their buck!

The prize is supposed to be for an eight day (seven night) trip to Namibia. It includes accommodation and ground tours and transportation. The flight leaves from New York City and we would have to make our own way there. That's fine, we haven't been to New York City together since 2000. The trip has to be taken before December 31st.

But we would want to stay longer...like a month or more! On our dime, of course. Hopefully we would be able to work that out with the sponsors.

When we leave here towards the end of September, we would drive to Ottawa and then somehow make our way to Nova Scotia, visiting family in both locations. Then, maybe around October 20, we would fly to New York City to spend a couple of days before flying to Africa! Spend a month or more over there, and then somehow make our way to Mexico and our motorhome, Sherman.

Anyhow, that's the plan! Hopefully it will come together...thanks again to all our facebook fans for making it happen so far!


12 comments:

  1. Good luck. I voted every time I had an internet connection that would let me in. Sure hoping they pick you guys. That would make for some great blog posts.

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    1. Thank you for taking the time to vote for us, we really apprectiate the help and support you gave to us. We have our fingers crossed, as it sure would make for some interesting posts.

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  2. Sounds like a great plan and thoughts are things. Thanks for sharing the photo and the essay here. I had wondered what you had submitted. Well done.

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    1. Sorry the voting wasn't something you could participate in Contessa, had it been we know you would have been there helping us. Thanks for your support and for spreading the news of the contest on your blog to help get us more votes.

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  3. Good, no I wish you GREAT luck with the judges, we really want to travel with you on this journey!

    Karen

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    1. We have our fingers crossed Karen. There is nothing more we can do but wait for the judges decission.

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  4. You'll need ME along as your porter! Good luck!

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    1. Lol, but we will only have one backpack each!

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  5. I think we should all enter contests and vote for each other regularly. Seems that's how people win the lottery by increasing their chances. Besides, who wouldn't want friends to win a trip to a foreign country? Can't wait to see the outcome.

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    1. Thanks Chris for all the help you have given us, both by voting and by posting the contest on your facebook page and your blog. I know we got some of our votes from your friends and readers.

      No, we are not participating in any more online voting contests!!!!

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  6. I sure hope that you are selected. If you are, we look forward to your posts and photos from Namibia. Ehhh, you think I could sqeeze inside your suitcase?

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    1. Thank you Nan, we hope so too! As for squeezing into our suitcase it may be a little cramped as all we travel with is a carry on backpack.

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