42 Great Dates

Stuck for ideas for a date? With this great list you shouldn't be at a loss for ideas ever again!

• A harbour or river cruise;

• tickets to the game you both love most: rugby, football, cricket, netball, basketball… the list goes on;

• the hot pools;

• dinner at a wonderful restaurant where the foods divine and the clothes need to be too;

• tapas and wine on a lazy weekend afternoon;

• a day at the races;

• going to a bar or out to dinner  to plan a wonderful adventure or a visit back to somewhere significant like the place you first fell in love or somewhere you discovered together and loved like that little bar on the beach in Croatia;

• going to see your favourite band or singer,

• going to a play, a concert, an opera;

• weekend markets and brunch;

• a food or wine or local festival;

• the movies;

• picnics – day or night (by candlelight in your back garden can be fun too);

• welcoming the dawn in with a glass of champers;

• kite flying;

• beach going;

• going to see a local musician play live;

• seeing some live comedy;

• seeing a great movie;

• going to a restaurant with live opera or jazz;

• karaoke;

• horseriding;

• the zoo, Kelly Tarlton’s Underwater World, MOTAT;

• going to art galleries or book launches or film premieres;

• fish and chips on the beach;

• climbing to the top of a mountain to see the sunset;

• cocktails at a bar (or experimenting at home);

• playing softball or cricket on the beach with a bunch of friends;

• ice skating;

• Snow Planeting;

• A day walk down the beach or through a park or reserve;

• A bike ride with a picnic;

• Mini golf day or night;

• Going to hear a visiting academic, writer or speaker;

• Massages for two after a long swim at the beach or pool;

• Painting, crafts or building something together;

• Visiting local tourist spots.

Then there are weekends away:

• at a vineyard;

• at the beach;

• a food or wine or local festival;

• a local island, Rotorua, Bay of Islands, Queenstown or another fabulous Kiwi destination;

• or going further afield to Sydney or Melbourne.

The options are limitless and friends can add to the fun as well.

Good advice for a first date is have an entertaining story lined up that you know you will be able to deliver well (with no digressions!).