Every Kiwi's must do/bucket list?

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MadEngineer

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#303213 24-Jan-2023 19:04

Probably should have made this topic a few months before the break but what are some things you'd expect or recommend that all Kiwi's should do? Naturally most of these will also be of recommendation to visitors from overseas

Some of mine:

Eat a whole crayfish
Try Kina
Try food cooked in a hangi
Take a mail-boat ride from Picton
Do an Interislander ferry crossing
Road trip around both coasts of the South Island
Boat ride in Milford Sound
Walk from central Auckland City to the harbour and out onto the wharf past The Cloud
Take a walk including Te Papa, the harbour, the cable car, the Botanic Garden and back. Walk one trip between the garden and back to town instead of taking the cable car return.
Stand under a wind turbine
Visit Oban
Cross a national park (esp Tongariro/Abel Tasman)
Visit Oban
Camp overnight in a hut and at a beachside camping ground
Mountain bike through a forest
Visit a geothermal area, sniff up the sulphur and swim or soak in a naturally heated pool

...

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#3026638 24-Jan-2023 19:14

I might copy paste that to be honest. Ive been everywhere in the S.I but not much in the N.I. Auckland as I lived there as a kid, Roto and NP and WLG for work trips. Airport and hotel. Took the kids to AKL, drove to Whangarei to Zion Gardens, the Lion Man

Id be keen on a North Island road trip

MyFriendAutism

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#3026669 24-Jan-2023 20:43

Just the one. Visit Antarctica or better still spend 1 year at Scott Base.

JimmyH

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#3026675 24-Jan-2023 21:14

MadEngineer:

Probably should have made this topic a few months before the break but what are some things you'd expect or recommend that all Kiwi's should do? Naturally most of these will also be of recommendation to visitors from overseas

Some of mine:

...

Not a bad list, but I'm not sure why it would be "every Kiwi's" bucket list, or indeed why everyone's bucket list should have particular things. There are some things in there I don't like, and either won't do or have done and wish I hadn't. For example:

I'm one of those weirdos who don't like crayfish (I can eat it, I just don't like it, and would never put it on my plate out of choice) or hangi food (ditto).
I have no desire whatsoever to eat kina.
I feel no burning desire to visit Oban, and
I don't like cycling and haven't been on a bike in 30+ years, I would go to great lengths to avoid mountain biking through a forest.

I think bucket lists are very personal, based on personal interests and experiences. On the other hand, some of mine would be:

Catching a trout in a river
Attending ANZAC day dawn parade at the National War Memorial
Sitting on a deserted beach, by yourself, and just soaking it all in.
Drinking an Otago pinot noir outside, with good friends by a campfire fire, on a cool cloudless night.
Drenching a sheep.
Whitebait fritters, preferably washed down with a good Marlborough sav blanc.
The Waitomo glow worm caves.

frankv

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#3026822 25-Jan-2023 08:27

Sleep out under the stars
Visit The Hermitage/Mt Cook/Aoraki
Body-surfing
Visit Ruapehu Crater Lake
Ski Treble Cone
Ski Broken River
Walk the Milford Track
Rainbow's End with the kids/grandkids
Visit Kapiti Island/Zealandia/Tiritiri Matenga
Meet a kiwi in the wild
Meet a kea in the wild
All Blacks test match
Black Caps test match at the Basin Reserve

Handsomedan

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#3026836 25-Jan-2023 08:52

Yeah my bucket list would never include crayfish or kina.

With that said, I have been lucky enough to have lived full life and ticked a lot of things off a "bucket list". The NZ portion of that includes:

Helicopter flights over the Southern Alps - lucky enough to have done a few of these over the years
Light Aircraft flight from Milford Sound to Queenstown, over the Milford Track
Mountain Biking in Queenstown, Rotorua, FourForty (in Orere Pt) - especially being able to tackle Grade 5/Black trails at my age
Whitewater rafting
Jetboat rides in Queenstown and Auckland - have done several over the years. There's no definitive "best one" in my opinion
Taking my (then) young children to Rainbows End
Walking in the bush unhindered (pre-Kauri Dieback) and just listening to birdsong and insects make their noises
Tramping/hiking in the mountains - staying in DOC huts and being able to drink the mountain stream water without filters
Learning to Surf - and then surfing some of the best spots the North Island can offer
Rotorua in its prime - back when it was a tourist mecca (probably the late 1970's to the early 1980's)
Caddying for my dad in a golf tournament and getting to drink the heady mixture of orange and lemonade at Wairakei Golf club afterwards
Crossing the Cook Strait in multiple types of weather on the old Wellington-Picton ferries (I'd like to do that again someday on one of the new ones)
Walking up (and down) Baldwin St, when it was the undisputed steepest street in the world
Seeing Penguins return from the sea at dusk - magical
Dunedin's Albatross colony - in the right conditions and at the right time of year it's really quite spectacular)
Taking a boat to the Hole in the Rock in Northland
Learning to dive and then seeing some spectacular underwater sights just offshore - NZ has some fascinating places to dive
Bungy jumping in Queenstown at the original home of Bungy - the Kawerau Bridge
Skyjump in Auckland - jumping off the Skytower (not sure I could do it these days, but I was younger then)
Four Wheel Driving - I went to a 4WD place in Northwest Auckland a few years ago and learned how to drive off-road...scary and fun and highly recommended!

There's lots of other things I could add, but as you can see - all quite personal and many of these things wouldn't make it onto someone else's bucket list. Can't imagine caddying for my dad would be on anyone's list - especially if you'd seen him play golf.

I've also ticked off most of my international bucket list over the years too, so if I look back on my life I can probably say I have been very fortunate indeed.

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#3026838 25-Jan-2023 08:56

I have actually done many, though not all of these things. Unfortunately my bucket list includes stuff that requires time travel, so is not practical. The main item remaining would be to spend a week in orbit.

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Eva888

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#3026847 25-Jan-2023 09:09

A very slow road trip travelling mainly on back roads, stopping often to talk with locals and to stay in small local pubs as much as possible to enjoy the community. I always felt that speeding through the country on motorways to arrive at a destination misses out on so much.

Visiting the small local museums on the way to hear the forgotten stories of old NZ.

Going South to find a place with no light pollution to spend the night looking at the Milky Way and bonus, timing it to chase an Aurora if lucky.

Finding non commercial hot pools to enjoy.

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#3026852 25-Jan-2023 09:20

JimmyH:

Drenching a sheep.

I never would have seen that one coming...

duckDecoy

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#3026856 25-Jan-2023 09:26

Perhaps I haven't contemplated my demise as much as I should, but I haven't really thought of a bucket list. A couple of things I know I would like to do are

Catch a kingi or tuna or similar, something I can bring in with a fight but without excessive hours and hours of suffering for the poor thing.
See the northern lights or southern lights. From memory it can be done in the South Island so I thinks it's doable without too much expense.

Some friends went on a cruise to one of the Nordic areas solely to see the northern lights, it was basically the purpose of the cruise, cloudy every single day for the 2 weeks :(

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#3026901 25-Jan-2023 10:39

The problem I have with my bucket list is that, even though I do fairly regularly tick things off, it never seems to stop growing either and the years do keep ticking by.

Current items that do have reasonable odds of being fulfilled within the next few years:

see and photograph the Aurora Australis
see and photograph bears in the wild, preferably Grizzlies
see a Kiwi in the wild (omitted photographing from that because I really don't think that's feasible, but that would be a bonus).

Did Eric Clapton really think she looked wonderful...or was it after the 15th outfit she tried on and he just wanted to get to the party and get a drink?

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#3026910 25-Jan-2023 10:47

- own house in AKL + Kerikeri + Queenstown/Wanaka + bach in Raro

but yeah visiting Scott base for a month or so would be a dream come true.

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frankv

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#3026916 25-Jan-2023 11:01

Whanganui River canoe trip
Dinghy / Hobie cat sailing
Sitting in Hanmer Springs while it snows
OE
Fly camping in the bush
Driving on a beach

These are probably out of date now...

Drinking at a country pub under-age and/or after 10pm
Friday night up town with your mates
Sitting in Ketetahi hot springs
Calf club day
Tonning it (actually only got to 95) in Dad's car

vexxxboy

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#3026919 25-Jan-2023 11:05

everywhere i went in the 80's in the world are now near impossible to do now for my son, the world is just to dangerous and that is sad.

Common sense is not as common as you think.

andrew027

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#3026922 25-Jan-2023 11:07

I don't know if there is such a thing as every Kiwi's bucket list. Bucket lists are pretty personal things.

Mine wouldn't include skiing; I've done it in the past but I'm not a huge fan, and I've eaten plenty of crayfish but have absolutely no desire whatsoever to eat kina.

I've done most of the things I wanted to do in New Zealand in my time - but that doesn't mean these would make anyone else's bucket list:

hiked many of the tracks (Waikaremoana, Tararua Southern Crossing, Tongariro Alpine Crossing, Abel Tasman Coastal and Inland tracks, Queen Charlotte, Heaphy, Hollyford, Routburn, Kepler and Milford) several of them more than once
walked Ninety Mile Beach
mountain biked in Rotorua and Queenstown, and done the Central Otago Rail Trail
completed the Lake Taupo Cycle Challenge
kayaked most of the Whanganui river
white water rafted
jet boated
jumped out of a plane
bungy jumped
dug myself a pool at Hot Water Beach
climbed all the Auckland maunga
sailed extensively in the Bay of Islands, Waitemata Harbour and Marlborough Sounds
done boat trips in Milford Sound and Doubtful Sound
dipped my toes in most of the major South Island lakes (Manapouri, Te Anau, Wakatipu, Wanaka, Hawea, Ohau, Benmore, Pukaki, Tekapo, Coleridge, Brunner, Rotoroa and Rotoiti)
visited Rakiura
visited Hobbiton (OK, not on my bucket list but my daughter really wanted to go and I ended up enjoying it)
camped out and slept under the stars all over the country

A few things I haven't done yet, that I want to do:

the Auckland Harbour Bridge climb
the Waitomo caves
hike to the Mueller Hut and spend the night
walk or cycle the full length of the country

MikeAqua

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#3026924 25-Jan-2023 11:10

Land in Wellington on a windy day.
Go to an All Black's test (one where it's close but we win)
Rub some meat in dirt and steam it - instant Hangi 'flavour'
Pub crawl in Dunedin
Lisa Lewis
Do a multiday tramp in Fiordland

Mike

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