If you are traveling in the South Island at the end of April, you should certainly visit Arrowtown. Arrowtown is a small town close to Queenstown. It is famous for its autumn colours. This means that the trees in Arrowtown change colour to red and orange, making for some of the most beautiful views in New Zealand.
The Arrowtown Autumn Festival runs from the 23rd to the 28th of April, and attracts many tourists. In addition to beautiful trees, there are a number of events to attend. The opening ceremony will include a Maori cultural performance by the local school, can-can dancers and a highland bagpipes band. There will be a parade, a market day, a quiz, an art exhibition, a dog show, buskers, outdoor movies, and a community tree planting. There will also be a bowling tournament, a fun run, a scarecrow competition, a comedy show, and a circus show. You can also attend a vintage car and motorbike display, trapeze classes, tai chi classes, a photography competition and guided walks.
Three activities that might need more explaining are the duck race, the aerobatic display and gold panning.
The duck race involves putting yellow rubber duckies, a popular bath toy, into the river and betting on a duck. This is to raise money for the local rugby club.
Aerobatics is when small planes fly in exciting and interesting ways. This performance will be by Ivan Krippner, one of Australasia’s best aerobatic pilots.
Gold panning is the way that people used to get gold out of the river. It involves getting small amounts of dirt from the river and shaking it back and forth to find tiny pieces of gold. There will be an activity that shows people how to pan for gold, but it is unlikely you will find any gold.
The festival is also held on ANZAC day, so there will be a commemoration service to remember those killed in war.
There are a few historic villages in New Zealand. These are little towns that are preserved to show us what life was like a long time ago. Interestingly, in Arrowtown, there is an historic Chinese settlement. For one day, this village will be used to show what life was like for Chinese gold miners in New Zealand during the 1880s.
Vocabulary:
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Note: if you need to copy down these definitions after you have done the quiz, just refresh the page so that you can see the text again.
Grammar Tip:
Do you know what an Oxford comma is? It is a comma used in lists after “and.” This article uses Oxford commas. This is a popular style in America, but you don’t have to use it.
Oh I have heard of that comma thing at school, what I see is it is used with ands and is an Oxford uni thing. Do you reckon it is used frequently there, in OZ or the UK largely, also maybe it means you have been to the U.S. because of your accent then? I hope you do not mind me asking it. Cheers kia ora)))
Hi Tavinho, I know it seems ironic, but the oxford comma is mostly associated with the Chicago Manual of style, and seems to be the most common with American writers. I am a kiwi but I spent a lot of time teaching English overseas, and my students couldn’t understand me unless I pronounced my ‘r’s like Americans do. I still have a habit of speaking this way with some words. 😀
kia ora Melissa, we students are sooo lazy, i dont get it about assimilation, it is fun to have different accents and i looove the kiwi one e_e cheers and i wish you a sweet-as day e_e
I agree, Tavio. Accents are a beautiful part of our identities.
What a beautiful festival!