An epic nine-week Australian taxi journey to promote tourism Down Under ended Sunday after taking in pristine beaches, desert wilderness and the rugged Outback.
The campaign, similar to last year’s highly successful “Best Job in the World” promotion which netted a young British man to publicise Queensland’s attractions, included competitions to select the trip’s driver and passengers.
Doug Slater, chosen to be the driver for the 13,650-km journey from the Western Australian capital Perth to the northern coastal town of Broome, said it was the “opportunity of a lifetime.”
“The driving wasn’t the real concern for me ... the rest of it kept me pretty busy,” he told AFP, referring to the constant commentary on Western Australia’s attractions he maintained throughout.
Slater said the 11 couples who were his passengers, who came from Australia, Malaysia, Singapore, Britain, New Zealand and Germany, were amazed at the amount of wildlife they saw — including deadly snakes, sharks and crocodiles.
“My passengers’ minds were boggled by the wildlife we saw on the journey,” said Slater, who was used to travelling the state thanks to his previous job as a livestock agent.
The campaign was inspired by that of a spinster who in the 1930s travelled thousands of kilometers over three months along Australia’s east coast from Melbourne to Darwin in a soft-top taxi.
Officials believe it has already generated media exposure worth more than A$2.6 million (US$2.2 million), and reached a potential audience of 60 million people globally.(AFP)
遊歷過原始海灘、沙漠荒野及崎嶇內陸後,旨在推廣當地觀光、為期九週的澳洲計程車之旅週日圓滿落幕。
該壯遊計畫透過網路遴選出駕駛與乘客,宣傳手法類似去年極為成功的「全球最棒工作」活動。旨在推廣昆士蘭各景點的「全球最棒工作」,最後由一名英國青年拿下。
道格•史雷特獲選擔任這趟一萬三千六百五十公里壯遊的司機,一路從西澳省首府伯斯開到北部濱海城市布隆。他表示,這是「畢生難得的機會」。
他向法新社表示:「開車對我來說不是什麼問題…反倒是其他事忙得我暈頭轉向。」他指的是沿途要一直介紹西澳省各觀光景點。
史雷特表示,他載過來自澳洲、馬來西亞、新加坡、英國、紐西蘭和德國的十一對乘客,他們對所見野生動物(包括毒蛇、鯊魚和鱷魚)數量之多,大感吃驚。
之前是家畜交易商,有機會到澳洲各地旅行的史雷特說:「旅途中看到的野生動物,令我的乘客難以置信。」
這項活動是受到一九三0年代一名未婚女子搭乘軟頂篷計程車,沿澳洲東岸旅行數千公里的故事啟發,當時她花了三個月時間,一路從墨爾本玩到達爾文。
當地官員認為,該活動所創造的媒體曝光價值超過兩百六十萬澳幣(兩百二十萬美元),吸引了全球六千萬名觀眾在線收看。
(法新社╱翻譯:林倩如)
The strongest earthquake to hit Taiwan in 25 years killed at least 16 people and damaged dozens of buildings, but the destruction was largely contained thanks to decades of preparedness work. Taiwan sits on the “Ring of Fire,” an arc of intense seismic activity along the Pacific Rim, and — much like neighboring Japan — has a long history of catastrophic quakes. How does April 3 compare with other recent quakes? The April 3 earthquake, which measured 7.4 on the moment magnitude scale, was felt across Taiwan. It was the most severe since a 7.6 magnitude quake in 1999 killed
Around the time of the Dragon Boat Festival in June, the streets of Taiwan are filled with the delightful aroma of zongzi, a traditional snack made of sticky rice wrapped in leaves. The leaves are folded into a cone and then filled with sticky rice and other ingredients such as braised pork belly, peanuts and salted duck egg yolks. The filled leaves are then tightly tied with kitchen twine and ready for cooking. 每到六月端午時節,街頭巷尾就會飄出粽子的香氣。粽子是將糯米包進粽葉的傳統美食,先將粽葉折成圓錐狀塞入糯米,以及紅燒肉、花生、鹹鴨蛋黃等配料,用棉線綁緊後即可烹煮。 Dragon Boat Festival (n. phr.) 端午節 aroma
Everyone has seen a piece of fruit turn brown after being cut. Have you ever wondered why that happens? It is a common phenomenon that occurs due to a chemical reaction called enzymatic browning. The appearance, flavor and nutritional value of the fruit are all affected by this reaction. Some fruits, such as apples, pears, bananas, avocados and peaches, are more prone to enzymatic browning than others. These fruits contain high levels of an enzyme called polyphenol oxidase, or PPO for short. __1__ This causes a chain of chemical reactions that ultimately transforms the phenolic compounds into
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