Tournament of Minds is a problem-solving competition where pupils are given a challenge. The more creative their solution, the more likely they are to win.
Rosie Davidson, Georgia Wong, Millie O'Neill, Angela Fu, Cindy Chou, Sophie Bowmar and Lily Ferro won the New Zealand national final of the Tournament of Minds two weeks ago, and it has been all hands on deck since then running bake sales at school to raise funds for their trip.
Year 7 dean and team coach Chris Cheyne said it was not the most creative solution to their fundraising problem, but it had been very effective.
''It's pretty amazing we've made it this far. It's been a pretty tight time frame though, because we only won the New Zealand nationals at the beginning of the holidays.
''It's very exciting.''
They leave today and will face nine teams in their age-group in Australia at the weekend.
About 500 primary and secondary pupils in 68 teams will compete for honours in four different age-group divisions, she said.
''They will be given a challenge and then they will be locked in a room for three hours to find a solution.
''They have to work out how they are going to present the solution in a dramatic kind of way, using props that they can make from stuff that's there.''
She said Columba College participated in the competition for the first time last year and made it to the national final.
But due to illness in the team, they did not gain a placing.
''So any result this year is going to be a good result.''
