University Geography Field Trip Example Time: next week (a two-day trip) Destination: the W

(R=Rachel C=Cesar)
R: Hi, Cesar. How are you?
C: Good, thanks, Rachel. I’m fine. I was going to ring you tonight so it’s a good thing I’ve run into you. I wanted to remind you about the field trip — the two-day field trip next week.
R: What field trip?
C: The geography field trip to the Warragamba Dam and the Water Treatment Plant. It’s a compulsory part of the first year Environmental Science course. Didn’t you know abput it?
R: No. I must have missed that piece of information; this is news to me. But give me the details, please!
C: Sure! Well, we have to meet outside the Library next Monday at 7 in the morning or you can meet us at 7:45 at the bus station in time to catch the coach which departs at 8 o’clock.
R: Oh, alright. And how long does it take to get to this place?
C: Well, once we’re on the coach, it will take about two hours. Er..., no! Actually more like two and a half hours at that time of day. And it could take as long as three hours to come back the next day because of the evening traffic.
R: And what’s the purpose of the trip?
C: Didn’t you get the course outline? You don’t seem to know anything about this course!
R: Well, remember, I only started at the university a month ago, so I joined the course two weeks late and I’ve been trying to catch up ever since!
C: Oh, of course! Well, we spend the first day visiting the dam. I believe we actually go inside the wall of the dam, which is really quite interesting — to see the dam functioning, you know, how much they regulate the water supply each day, depending on how much water is needed downstream in Sydney.
R: Oh. OK. And urn, so, if this is a two-day trip, where are we staying? Not camping by the dam, I hope!
C: No, no. Not camping. They do actually have some overnight cabins near the dam for visiting groups, but we’re spending the night in a youth hostel, in a town nearby. That’s all been arranged by the university.
R: And what about meals? Should we take our own food along?
C: No, you won’t need to do that. The hostel provides two meals, breakfast and an evening meal and we can find a cheap place to buy lunch. R: Great. So, is this the only dam that supplies water for Sydney?
C: There are a couple of others too, but this is the main one.
R: Well, with a population of over four and a half million people, I suppose we do use thousands of litres each day.
C: Absolutely. In fact, according to my notes here, they pump the water through something like 20,000 kilometers of pipes and canals and store the water in 262 service reservoirs. And each day we use enough water to fill 600 Olympic swimming pools.