You will hear a tourist information officer explaining local walks to visitors. First you have some time to look at questions 11 to 15. Welcome to everyone here.
I hope you enjoy your stay in our village and enjoy the local scenery. I'll tell you a bit about the forest and mountain tracks in a minute, but first I'll just give you an idea of where everything is in the village. So, we're here in the tourist information centre, and when you come out of the centre, you're on Willow Lane, just opposite the pond.
If you want to get to the supermarket for your supplies of food and water, go right. That's the quickest way, and then turn right at the top of Willow Lane, and it's the second building you come to, opposite the old railway station. If you're planning on doing some serious climbing and you need some equipment, we do have an excellent climbing supply store just five minutes walk away.
Turn left once you're outside the tourist information centre. Take Willow Lane all the way up to Pine Street. You want to go left along here, then keep walking and go up Mountain Road on your right until you come to the next turning on the left.
Head down there, and you'll come to the climbing supply store. If you get to the small building that sells ski passes, you'll know you've gone too far. You also need to head to Pine Street for the museum.
It's small, but well worth a visit if you're interested in the history of the village and the old gold mining industry. So, when you reach Pine Street from here, you'll see the old railway line on the other side of the road. Turn left into Pine Street and keep going until you come to Mountain Road, and just past here, the museum will be on your left, just behind the railway line.
Don't worry about crossing over the tracks. The trains stopped running through here in 1985. If you're planning on following one of the easier forest walks, you might like to hire a bicycle.
To get to the hire shop, again, you need to head to Pine Street. On the left-hand side of Pine Street, you'll see the town hall. Go down the little road that you come to just before it, and you'll find the bike hire shop just behind the hall.
They have a good range of bikes, so I'm sure you'll find something that suits your needs. Last but not least, if you're hungry after a long day's trek, I can recommend our local café. Again, when you leave the Tourist Information Centre, turn right and follow Willow Lane until it joins Pine Street, and right opposite, on the far side of the railway tracks, is the café.
Before you hear the rest of the conversation, you will have some time to look at the questions 16 to 20. Now listen and answer questions 16 to 20. Okay, let me tell you a little bit about the different tracks we have here.
All of them start at the end of Mountain Road, and you'll find a parking lot there where you can leave your vehicles. Let's start with North Point Track. It's a gentle route through lowland forest, good for biking and probably the one for you if you have small children.
There's a wooden hut where you can stay at the end of the track, but be aware that it's really just an overnight shelter, and you'll need to take your own sleeping bags and cooking equipment. Another option is the Silver River Track. As the name suggests, you'd be following the river for most of the way, and you get to see some of our beautiful native birds, but the track also goes through a densely forested area.
Unfortunately, the signposting isn't very good in places, and you do need good map-reading skills to avoid becoming disoriented, which happens to visitors a little too frequently, I'm afraid. Valley Crossing will take you through some stunning scenery, but there are several points along the way where you'll need the level of fitness required to get over some pretty big rocks. Stonebridge is one of the shorter tracks, but very steep as it takes you up to the waterfall, and you do need to be in good condition to manage it.
Lastly, the Henderson Ridge Track will take you all the way to the summit of the mountain. Do bear in mind, though, that at this time of year the weather is very changeable, and if the cloud suddenly descends, it's all too easy to wander off the track. It's best to check with us for a weather report on the morning you think you want to go.
On the way to the summit, there's a hotel which provides comfortable rooms and quality meals, so it's worth climbing all that way. That is the end of Section 2. You now have half a minute to check your answers. .