Text 4.

Jacinta: Hi, Lewis-It’s Jacinta here.

Lewis: Oh, hi, Jacinta. I was just going to call you. I was thinking we ought to do something about accommodation for our trip to Queenstown.

-          Yeah, actually that’s just why I rang you. I’ve been looking on the Internet-there was one place that looked OK called Travellers’ Lodge, but when I checked availability for January when we’re planning to go I found it was fully booked.

-          Right-well, we’d better do something now I suppose.

-          I’ve actually got a list up here on the computer-there’s one place called Bingley’s that looks possible. It’s 19.75 dollars a night-that’s US dollars, they quote all the prices in US dollars.

-          So that’s about 26 or 27 New Zealand dollars. That’s OK. That’ll be in a dormitory, isn’t it?

-          Yeah-they say 8-bed dorms. And the hostel’s right in the town centre and they’ve got a café….they have theme nights every weekend, whatever that means…

-          Oh, you know, like certain sorts of food and music…and people might wear special clothes like that Egyptian evening we went to last year.

-          Oh, OK. What else…they’ve got a sundeck area, and then all the usual things-Internet access and so on.

-          Sounds good. Was there anything else?

-          Yea, a couple more places. There’s one called Chalet Lodge which is just 18.00 US dollars-that’s for a bed in a 12-bed dorm. They do single and family rooms as well. It looks as if it’s a bit out of town…says it’s got an alpine setting…a “quiet” alpine setting. What do you think?

-          Mmm, not sure…

-          Oh, but actually it’s not far out at all…it says 10 minutes’ walk from town, so…Oh, and it says it’s “children friendly”.

-          Mmm, I’m not so sure about that. What about the third place?

-          Aah. That’s called Globetrotters-let’s see,  they do private rooms, or 5-bed dorms for 18.50-it’s in the centre, just by the lake…and that includes breakfast.

-          Didn’t the other two?

-          I don’t think so. They didn’t mention it, so probably not. Oh, and it says something about a free skydive….wow.

-          Don’t know if I’m all that keen on jumping out of aeroplanes…

-          Oh, actually what it says is you can win a chance to do a skydive-they give one away every day to one of the guests.

-          Well, if I win it, you can do it…Anyway, do they have room?

-          Yeah, I checked the availability. Shall I go ahead and book there then?

-          Fine.

……..

Jacinta: I was looking at what there is to do, too…there are lots of sites offering deals for adventure sports-ah, I suppose we have to do a bungee jump.

Lewis: why?

-          Well, it’s Queenstown where they more or less started it as a sport.

-          You can….if they really want to jump off the side of a bridge with an elastic rope tied round your ankles. I’ll watch.

-          OK. So what do you want to do?

-          As far as adventure sports go? I was talking to someone who went white-water rafting there-he said it was really awesome. They drive you up the Shotover River and then you come down on a rubber raft through the white-water rapids, where the river’s really narrow and fast, and end up going through a tunnel nearly 200 metres long. I think, it’s quite expensive, though.

-          Oh, I’m on for that if you are.

-          Cool.

-          The other thing you can do is jet-boat ride…that sounded a lot of noise though. It’s basically just whizzing round on the river on a very fast boat, isn’t it?

-          My friend did that as well-he said it was a bit touristy but worth it, I’ll give it a go. You go right up the river canyon. He said the drivers were very skilful. But I don’t mind going on my own.

-          But there’s lots to do as well as the whole commercial adventure bit…we ought to do some trekking. The scenery round there’s amazing, I don’t want to miss that. The place to start’s Glenorchy, apparently-about 40 minutes’ drive, that’s where lots of the wilderness trails begin.

-          OK, I’ll pack my walking boots. I’d better start getting in training…I haven’t done anything except sit at my desk for months. Now, is there anything else we need to decide?

Text 5

Woman: Erm..I’m interested in doing some work for the library-are you the person to speak to?

Librarian: Yes, Right. Well, erm, what sort of work are you interested in?

-          I’ve just come to live here in Australia…I don’t want full-time job until my children have settled down, but I really need to get out of the house a bit, and I heard you need voluntary workers for various projects…?

-          Right

-          …but I don’t know if I have the right skills.

-          Well, we do provide training.

-          Oh

-          We always include an orientation to the library, together with emergency procedures, that’s fire regulations, emergency exits, first aid so you can cope with accidents or sudden illness, things like that which are necessary for anyone who’s working with the public. Then we give specialists training for particular projects-like using our database system.

-          I do have quite good computer skills, in fact.

-          Umm, great.

-          Is there any sort of dress requirement?

-          Well, all staff have to wear a name badge-so they can be identified if they go outside “the staff only” areas. But apart from that there aren’t many regulations-we ask you to sign in and sign out for insurance purposes, but that’s all. How about transport-do you live locally?

-          Not too far away. I’m at Porpoise Beach. My husband needs the car during the day but it’s only about twenty minutes on the bus.

-          In fact, we can reimburse part of your travel expenses in that case.

-          Oh. Would that be the same if I came by car?

-          No, because parking is such a problem here. One thing we are looking for though is someone who can drive a minibus.

-          No problem. So, do the projects involve going outside the library?

-          Some, yes. But not all. We’ve just finished one which involved working with photographs taken of the area 50 or 100 years ago-it basically involved what we call encapsulation…

-          Putting them in some sort of covers to keep them safe?

-          Exactly. It’s time-consuming work, and we were very grateful to have help with it. Then, sometime next year  we’re hoping to begin working on an initiative involving the sorting and labeling of objects relating to local history. We’ll be needing help with the cataloguing.

-          I’d definitely be interested. How about at present?

-          Well, we have a small team who work to support those who are unable to read.

-          Working with the blind?

-          Yes, or other groups who have reading difficulties. We provide volunteers with  equipment so that they can take books home with them and read them aloud onto CDs. We’re gradually building up a collection that can be lent to those who need them.

-          Mmm. I can see it would be useful, but I’d really like to do some sort of work where I can get the chance to meet people. How about reading stories to  children?

-          Mmm That’s done by our regular staff. But we have another project-it’s a very long established scheme which involves helping .those who are unable to have direct access to the library.

-          Oh, I noticed someone with a trolley of books when I was at the hospital last week. That sort of thing?

-          That would have been one of ours, yes. It’s one of our most popular services-lots of people who wouldn’t dream of going to the library normally, when they’re at home, borrow a book when the trolley comes round the ward.

-          I can imagine, Yes, I’d definitely be interested in that. Right, so, how do I enroll?

-          Well, we do ask all volunteers to commit themselves to a regular period each week.

-          I could probably do five or six hours…

-          Oh…be careful not to take on too much-but we do need someone for a couple of afternoons from 2 to 4…so four hours altogether.

-          That sounds fine.

…….

Librarian: Right, so here’s the application form…it asks the usual questions, name and address and telephone number. You also need to fill in details of who we should get in touch with in case of any accident or problem like that, we do need to have that filled in, and there’s a space for date of birth, but that’s only if  you’re over 75 so, we won’t worry about that.

Woman: No. Oh, it asks for the qualifications-do I need to provide certificates?

-          -They’re not necessary. We’ll need the names of two referees-not relatives or family members, obviously. What else…signature of parent or guardian-that won’t be necessary as I assume you’re over 18?

-          Yes. What’s this? It says “civil conviction check”

-          That’s a document we have to provide by law for those working on projects involving children, so we won’t need it in your case. But you will need to sign this separate document-that’s a copy of commitment; it’s basically an agreement to work according to the library guidelines. So, if you’d like to fill this all in-you can do it here, or take it home, whichever you prefer.

-          I’ll take it home if that’s OK. Right, well thank you for your time.