Transcripts
Section 1: You will hear two friends called John and Anna talking about a holiday Anna has just had on Jackson Island.
John: Hi Anna, how was your holiday to Jackson Island?
Anna: It was good. There’s quite a lot to see. It’s quite a big island really.
John: Yeah, I was thinking of going in the summer, so where would you recommend going on the island?
Anna: Well, the capital of course, Camford. I stayed there with my cousin.
John: What did you do there?
Anna: Well, actually I spent most of my time there shopping.
John: So, has it got good shopping centres?
Anna: Yes, but they’re the same as at home really, so I did all my shopping in the market, which is great!
John: Hmm, what kinds of things are good to buy there?
Anna: Everything, but bags and shoes especially. Just make sure you’ve got cash with you, as most of the stalls don’t take credit cards.
John: Okay, that’s good to know. Where else did you go?
Anna: Well, my cousin and I went to Newtown. She said it was famous for its modern architecture. We only had half a day there, so we took a bus tour around the town. But if I were you, I’d give the bus tour a miss. Unless you know a lot about architecture, the buildings all look the same. There’s a museum though. That’s supposed to be good. You might like that.
John: OK. I’ll give it a go.
Anna: Then, after that, we headed for Golden Beach because we were going to meet up with an old friend that I hadn’t seen for years, but we had to stay in a caravan as the hotels were all booked up.
John: Is it as pretty as it looks in the brochures?
Anna: Yes, it’s very picturesque. We did some sailing on the most beautiful blue sea. It was so clear that you could see the bottom, even quite far out to sea. That part of the trip was great and I’d have liked to have stayed even longer. I’d suggest staying there for a minimum of four days if I were you. We had two days there and it wasn’t nearly enough.
John: Sounds great. I’ll put that on my must-do list. Was that the end of your trip?
Anna: No, after Golden Beach we drove into the centre of the island to White Mountain.
John: White as in the colour?
Anna: Yes. The island’s great because you can go from the beaches up to the snowy mountain in a couple of hours. We took a tent because we were going to camp but the weather was so cold, in fact it was snowing when I was there, that we stopped in a motel instead.
John: Did you go skiing then?
Anna: No, but we tried snowboarding and it was harder than it looked. It looks so easy when you see other people doing it, but it took me ages to get the hang of it. I wish I’d had some lessons, but you had to make your bookings in advance.
John: Okay, I’ll look into that. Thanks.
John: So are there any other tips or advice you could give me?
Anna: I don’t know, let me think. Oh, one place you should try to visit is this very quaint café, which is at the foot of the mountain. It has the best cakes ever. It’s worth going there just for them.
John: I’ll have to try those. So what other advice would you give?
Anna: Oh, let me think. Uh, we didn’t really have any problems.
John: Well, how did you get around when you were there?
Anna: We wanted to get a motorbike at first. They’re very cheap to hire and great fun to ride as the roads are very good. But it turned out not to be a good idea because the weather is so changeable. You’d be much better off in a car. There are plenty of places where you can hire them and the roads are well signposted so you won’t get lost.
John: And presumably I can get a map when I get there?
Anna: Well, you can, but they are expensive. It’d be better to get one here before you go.
John: Great! That’s been really useful.
