The bucket list

Hey everyone!

So, for our new years resolutions, or rather, instead of them...me and the hubby decided we would write a bucket list. My first entry was diving with great whites, second- the Nevis bungee in queenstown....a skydive and the usual things you would expect to see on a bucket list, however....it may come as no surprise that a hot air balloon ride does not appear on there. No thank you!

Anyway, it would be interesting to hear what you would class as the ultimate bucket list activities and maybe help add to my list! :nice1

J x

For me personally it is not so much about activities but more about leisurely exploration. So it would be mostly regions and locations I have still not been here in NZ (mostly on North Island).
This based on several aspects: 'Just' curiosity, being walking impaired and an interest in the spirit of the land (related to Maori cosmology).

For me it is seeing the marine life in New Zealand. The highlights of living here have been seeing orcas and a southern right whale in Wellington harbour, and seeing and hearing little blue penguins regularly. (having to check under the car for penguins and being woken up at dawn by them returning to the sea wasn't something I was expecting).
In terms of activities I would really recommend the dolphin discovery trip out of Russell.
I can't believe after 2 years here we still haven't been to Kaikoura to go whale-watching! Definitely on our list.
And seeing the yellow-eyed penguins on the south island too of course and going right down to the far south of New Zealand and going to Milford Sound.

Horse-riding on Ninety Mile Beach, Cape Reinga, seeing the giant kauri trees - all highlights of a recent trip up north.

Hey Ralf, we also have a huge list of places to see/visit on there too. I would hate for us to be sitting here when we are 80 thinking "I wish i had of visited there" when we have ample opportunities to explore in our lifetime. My husband made an achievements section too....one of them being to build a house which is our main focus at the moment. :)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by ralf-nz

For me personally it is not so much about activities but more about leisurely exploration. So it would be mostly regions and locations I have still not been here in NZ (mostly on North Island).
This based on several aspects: 'Just' curiosity, being walking impaired and an interest in the spirit of the land (related to Maori cosmology).

---

That all sounds amazing. Whale watching is definitely a new addition to my list...thank you! We actually went to Milford sound 4 years ago when we visited but we couldnt of picked a more terrible day. There was low fog, rain and it was just impossible to see anything so will definitely be going back there at some point! And i will be checking the weather first!!!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by girlwithanewf

For me it is seeing the marine life in New Zealand. The highlights of living here have been seeing orcas and a southern right whale in Wellington harbour, and seeing and hearing little blue penguins regularly. (having to check under the car for penguins and being woken up at dawn by them returning to the sea wasn't something I was expecting).
In terms of activities I would really recommend the dolphin discovery trip out of Russell.
I can't believe after 2 years here we still haven't been to Kaikoura to go whale-watching! Definitely on our list.
And seeing the yellow-eyed penguins on the south island too of course and going right down to the far south of New Zealand and going to Milford Sound.

Horse-riding on Ninety Mile Beach, Cape Reinga, seeing the giant kauri trees - all highlights of a recent trip up north.

---

Whale-watching at Kaikoura was one of the best afternoons of my entire life, truly. :)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by JandM

Whale-watching at Kaikoura was one of the best afternoons of my entire life, truly. :)

---

Excellent, I know my nephew enjoyed it when he was over for the RWC. For me it's one we don't talk about much know, when Clare and I did it on our honeymoon I saw one tail fin and then was intimately acquainted with a large brown paper bag for 2.5 hours :o

There is so much I think we would love to do!!

Whale watching is a must do once we are over!! Visiting many places, one of must do's is visit The Great Wall of China!! I would love to complete an Iron Man!!

The Nevis bungee we did last January and it really was amazing!! Would reccomend it if you can build the courage to jump - took me 5 mins after some crocodile tears but when I got back up I wanted to do it all again!! :nice1

We did Milfird Sound and how lucky do we feel that when we went it was a gorgeous, clear and sunny day!! But twenty years ago when my partner Dave went it was nothing but rain - feel really lucky!!

So much to do... Lets go :exit

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by girlwithanewf

I can't believe after 2 years here we still haven't been to Kaikoura to go whale-watching! Definitely on our list.
And seeing the yellow-eyed penguins on the south island too of course and going right down to the far south of New Zealand and going to Milford Sound.

Horse-riding on Ninety Mile Beach, Cape Reinga, seeing the giant kauri trees - all highlights of a recent trip up north.

---

I know everyone os different and of course, every time you go whale watching it is different, too in terms of the weather and how many whales you see etc.
We went whale watching some weeks ago with friends who visited us from Germany and I honestly have to say that I was a bit disappointed and not sure I would do it again! we did see three whales, only two tails, though, because one of them choose to disappear without showing it. But somehow I expected them to be much bigger..., and with the first one I was so busy trying to capture it on camera (for my friend who was seasick inside....) that I somehow had the feeling I didn't really see it! The skipper/ guide then followed a third whale and because of that we didn't have enough time to go and see if there was any other sea- life closer to the coast. I thought it was a lot of money - and maybe my expectations were too high! I've seen several very good documentaries lately and have to say that the filmimg is so much better than the real- life- experience.

Just my personal thoughts, though. My brother loved it, they saw whales and dolphins, and a friend said almost the same- they had loads of dolphins around the boat, saw several whales, and a great number of birds, too.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by benandclare

Excellent, I know my nephew enjoyed it when he was over for the RWC. For me it's one we don't talk about much know, when Clare and I did it on our honeymoon I saw one tail fin and then was intimately acquainted with a large brown paper bag for 2.5 hours :o

---

LOL! Precisely why Mr Manks left me to do it on my own ;)

We were actually talking about some of this stuff over the weekend and I don't have a huge bucket list of things whereas he's a lot more ambitious it seems! I definitely want to visit Melbourne and the Cook Islands, but other than that I'm relatively happy with my lot.

One thing I definitely want to do, and hopefully in the not too distant future, is buy a campervan and just head off for weekends of exploration around NZ. I do want to visit the Bay of Islands, Ninety Mile Beach and probably lots of other places around the country.