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0内容来自于《12天攻克雅思听力》Day2 上半篇
Hi, everybody. Today, I would like to talk about Gisborne, New Zealand. Even though I should point out that Gisborne has a robust economy and a storied history, I will spend most of my time today discussing its tourism. Which I think is a major factor in Gisborne's booming economy and is also part of its well known history.Some of you may be familiar with the Maori, the indigenous people of New Zealand.
These people first arrived in New Zealand from Polynesia, some islands in the central part of the Pacific. Then they arrived on the east coast of New Zealand in canoes. We're still not sure whether they went through a dangerous journey. Then they settled on the west part of New Zealand and developed a unique culture with their own language. This unique culture was easy to maintain, as the Maori were somewhat isolated from the outside world. To this day, the Maori are the second most popular ethnic group in New Zealand, as about 15% of the population there is Maori, over 600,000 people.
In the early days of Gisborne, the Maori people lived off the natural resources of the area, most of the goods sold to other continents from Gisborne came from the crops that were raised on the farms. Later in the 1,400s, they began to heavily rely on fisheries and the forests nearby to produce seafoods and timber which were exported to overseas markets.
What is the main export from the Gisborne area now? Although the area is well known for sweet corn and wheat that are produced there, foods such as grapes from many vineyards there or octopus and shellfish from the surrounding ocean are the most popular export items to Europe. Citrus fruits, such as lemons and oranges, are frequently transported to Asia from this region.
Gisborne is well known for its costume parties. The first party was held in the opera house and it was a huge success. This year our participants decided at the meeting house that we are going to have one at a vineyard where both young and old will enjoy their time.
