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The great New Zealand Bucket List

New Zealand has several iconic things to do and places to see and this list features things that are probably on most Bucket Lists for those visiting us!

I just ticked off the annual Jaffa Race down Baldwin Street in Dunedin, the steepest street in the world according to the Guinness Book of Records (by half a degree), and it made me think about a Great New Zealand Bucket List and what I would put on it.

Rugby 7s: Well… maybe not this costume!

These are my picks, in no particular order, just as they ocurred to me. Feel free to add your own below!

1. Driving on the sand at Cape Reinga and hurtling down Ninety Mile Beach sand dunes on a boogie board! (See my post and video here >>>)

2. Dressing up like a larrikin for the New Zealand 7s rugby tournament where fans are dressed in all kinds of crazy for their two days in the sun.

3. Black water rafting under a million twinkling glowworms at Waitomo Caves

4. Paying repects to mighty Tane Mahuta – the oldest and most sacred kauri tree in New Zealand. At 2000 years old this guy was there when Jesus was born. Update: due to a plant disease called Kauri Die-back this walk is temporarily closed.

5. Eating freaky food at the Hokitika Wild Food Festival. Horse semen shots were on offer this year….

6. Bungy jumping from historic Kawarau Bridge, Queenstown – the world’s 1st commercial bungy jump

7. Seeing an All Blacks test live – and being there in time for the haka

8. Cycle the old railway route of the Otago Rail Trail

9. Seeing a kiwi in the wild – the bird, that is. I take great pains to correct my American friends on the difference between kiwi and kiwifruit. It’s like passion v passionfruit!

10. Screaming at 50,000 jaffas rolling down Baldwin Street, Dunedin at the annual Cadbury Jaffa Race. Update: since the Cadbury factory closed in Dunedin the race seems to have been suspended. Hopefully the city will bring it back!

Catch those Jaffas!7. Cycling the Otago Rail Trail
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Hi, I'm Megan Singleton and I'm the word slinger of this travel blog as well as on radio in NZ every Sunday. Former Travel Editor at Yahoo NZ and current freelance writer for a few newspapers and mags from time to time, I set off on this travel writing journey 20 years ago and I've pretty much always got a suitcase half packed (or half un-packed!) I'd love you to join me on Facebook or Twitter and sign up for my newsletters if you want loads of travel tips, advice and deals!