Wellington is the arts and culture capital of New Zealand, and is the centre of the nation's film industry. Peter Jackson, Richard Taylor, and a growing team of creative professionals have managed to turn the eastern suburb of Miramar into one of the world's finest film-making infrastructures. Directors like Jane Campion and Vincent Ward have managed to reach the world's screens with their independent spirit. Emerging Kiwi film-makers, like Taika Waititi, Charlie Bleakley, Costa Botes and Jennifer Bush-Daumec, are extending the Wellington-based lineage and cinematic scope.
Wellington is home to Te Papa Tongarewa (the Museum of New Zealand), The Museum of Wellington City and Sea, The Katherine Mansfield Birthplace Museum, Colonial Cottage, The New Zealand Cricket Museum, The Cable Car Museum, The Reserve Bank Museum, the national opera company, New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, City Gallery, Chamber Music New Zealand, Royal New Zealand Ballet, St James' Theatre, Downstage Theatre, Bats Theatre and Arts Foundation of New Zealand.
As a capital city, Wellington is home to diplomatic missions with cultural officers ready to interface with these aspects of the City's life. In the early part of the 21st century, Wellington has confirmed its place as a vibrant centre of arts, culture, and creativity in the South Pacific.
4 Comprehension check. Answer the following questions:
1) Where is Wellington situated?
2) Why was it named Wellington?
3) What is Wellington like?
4) When did it become the capital of New Zealand?
5) What have you learnt about Wellington Harbour?
6) What is the population of Wellington?
7) Why is Wellington the arts and culture capital of New Zealand?
8) What do you know about Wellington film industry?
9) What popular museums are there in Wellington?
10) What has Wellington confirmed in the beginning of the 21st century?
5 Fill in the gaps:
1) Wellington's … … extends beyond the boundaries of a single local authority.
2) Commissioners from Australia … the opinion that Wellington was suitable because of its … and central location.
3) On a clear day the … Kaikoura Ranges are … to the south across the strait.
4) It has been used as a … … for people and animals and as an … … during the First and Second World Wars.
5) Directors like Jane Campion and Vincent Ward have … to reach the world's … with their … ….
6) Wellington has … its place as a … … of arts, culture, and creativity in the South Pacific.
6 Say whether these statements true or false:
a) The population of Wellington, including the outlying areas, is approaching
400,000.
b) Wellington has the 12th best quality of living in the world.
c) In 1965 Wellington became the capital of New Zealand.
d) Wellington is the capital of New Zealand, the country's third largest urban area and
the most populous national capital in Oceania.
e) All the islands of Wellington Harbour are large enough for settlement.
f) 70 percent of people in Wellington city say they are of European ethnic origin.
g) Wellington is New Zealand's political centre, housing Congress and the head
offices of all government ministries and departments.
h) Wellington stands at the south-western tip of the North Island on Cook Strait.
i) Wellington is the centre of the nation's space industry.
7 Discussion. Expand on the statements:
1) The majority of the population in Wellington is of European origin.
2) Wellington's compact city centre supports an arts scene, café, culture and nightlife
greater than most cities of a similar size.
3) Wellington is the political centre of New Zealand.
4) Wellington is the arts and culture capital of New Zealand.
SUPPLEMENTARY READING
Read the text “History and Geography of Wellington” and render it due to the plan:
- I’ve read the text under the title …
- This text is about …
- It reads that …
- It should be said, that …
- Summarizing everything I would like to mention …
- I think that the text ...
History and Geography of Wellington
Legend recounts that Kupe discovered and explored the district in about the tenth century.
European settlement began with the arrival of an advance party of the New Zealand Company on the ship Tory, on 20 September 1839, followed by 150 settlers on the Aurora on 22 January 1840. The settlers constructed their first homes at Petone (which they called Britannia for a time) on the flat area at the mouth of the Hutt River. When that proved swampy and flood-prone they transplanted the plans without regard for a more hilly terrain. Wellington has some extremely steep streets running straight up the sides of hills.
In Maori, Wellington goes by three names. Te Whanganui-a-Tara refers to Wellington Harbour and means “the great harbour of Tara”; Poneke, which is often discouraged because of a belief that it is nothing more than a transliteration of the harbour’s former nickname in English, Port Nick, short for Port Nicholson; Te Upoko-o-te-Ika-a-Maui, meaning The Head of the Fish of Maui (often shortened to Te Upoko-o-te-Ika), a more traditional name, as favoured by Victoria University of Wellington.
Wellington suffered serious damage in a series of earthquakes in 1848 and from another earthquake in 1855. The 1855 Wairarapa earthquake occurred on a fault line to the north and east of Wellington. It ranks as probably the most powerful earthquake in recorded New Zealand history, with an estimated magnitude of at least 8.2 on the Richter scale. It caused vertical movements of two to three metres over a large area, including raising an area of land out of the harbour and turning it into a tidal swamp. Much of this land was subsequently reclaimed and is now part of Wellington's central business district. For this reason the street named Lambton Quay now runs 100 to 200 metres from the harbour. Plaques set into the footpath along Lambton Quay mark the shoreline in 1840 and thus indicate the extent of the uplift and of subsequent reclamation.
The area has high seismic activity even by New Zealand standards, with a major fault line running through the centre of the city, and several others nearby. Several hundred more minor fault lines have been identified within the urban area. The inhabitants, particularly those in high-rise buildings, typically notice several earthquakes every year. For many years after the 1855 earthquake, the majority of buildings constructed in Wellington were made entirely from wood. The 1996-restored Government Buildings, near Parliament and the Railway Station, are the largest wooden office building in the Southern Hemisphere. While masonry and structural steel have subsequently been used in building construction, especially for office buildings, timber framing remains the primary structural component of almost all residential construction. Residents also place their hopes of survival in good building regulations, which gradually became more stringent in the course of the 20th century.