3: Make a difference I
Pick a cause - environment, political, social, community, local or international - and join it.
4: Make a difference II
By tradition, Christmas is the season of giving. And what better way of genuinely giving than volunteering to help others in the community. It could be at a hospice, a retirement home or as a street collector for charity. Volunteering Auckland works with more than 400 non-profit, non-governmental organisations who are looking for your help. See volunteeringauckland.org.nz for opportunities for individuals and groups to help in their community and make it a whole summer of giving.
5: No. 1 Memory lane
The past doesn't have to be a foreign country, particularly if it's your past. If it is years or perhaps even decades since you last saw the home you first lived in, or maybe the home you first remember, then make this summer the moment to reconnect. You could just have a look on Google Street View of course, but where's the fun in that. Make a trip to your old street or hometown, find your house and knock on the door and introduce yourself. You never know, the present owners might give you a guided tour and if they don't, well, have a wander around your old neighbourhood and let your memory remind you of times past.
6: Self image
Report from the frontline of your own holiday: Instagram a selfie of where you are, what you're doing and what you are wearing each and every day. The world must know of your joy.
Photo / Thinkstock
7: Catch of the day
We Aucklanders are a coastal people, so kai moana is our birthright. Pity our birthright is so darn expensive, then. Well it is if you pay for it. The usual thing to do would be to try catching your supper with a rod and reel, but it's much more of a fun family day out to go in search of shellfish like cockles or tuatua. You have to dig, you have get a bit dirty. But what could be better than gathering your lunch or dinner and boiling it up at the beach? (Some beaches are closed for shellfish gathering so check with your council to find out which).
8: Cocoa is it
Chocolate. Even the word sounds rich, sophisticated and delicious. Eating one is, of course, one of life's pleasures. But so, too, is making chocolate. The Kako Chocolate School in Glen Innes offers a range of courses in making the delicious treats from one-day introductions through to "gold" membership, which gives you access to all the regular chocolate school classes for a year.
9: In full view
It might seem sacrilege: but the summer holiday is most definitely the best time to catch up on those must-see TV shows you forgot or didn't get around to watching during 2014. Our recommendations for boxsets to watch this summer are Fargo, Broadchurch and Top of the Lake.
10: To market
By our count there are more than 70 weekend, night and farmers' markets in the Auckland region, which is just dandy for shopping. But they also offer, for the canny and hard-working, 70-plus opportunities to sell those things you make or grow. Having your own stall is no small responsibility and there is a cost. But for the right person with the right product, a market stall can be the perfect combination of fun and profit. See aucklandmarkets.co.nz for information about markets near you.
Photo / Babiche Martens
11: Bun-tastic!
If you eat one thing this summer, make it the pork steamed bun at The Blue Breeze Inn. We're addicted (and refusing interventions and rehab). The Blue Breeze Inn is at 146 Ponsonby Rd. Ph 360 0303.
12: Stirred, shaken
Nothing says sophistication like a well-made cocktail. Pick a couple of famous ones - martinis and margaritas are well-known, well-loved and relatively easy to make - find a basic recipe online and get mixing. Practice, after all, makes perfect. It should also make for a perfect summer sundowner.
13: Low brow
Cheap thrills don't come any cheaper than sliding on a bit of cardboard down a grassy slope. Pick a hill - we like Mt Eden or North Head - lay your hands on a cardboard box and you're away and sliding.
14: High brow
After existing on a diet of The Block and Kim Kardashian's bum all year, this is the moment to feed your brain some proper culture. Be ambitious and embark on something that is outside your cultural comfort zone. Forget Lorde and try Verdi's La Traviata or Mozart's piano concertos. If you usually read James Patterson embark on Anthony Powell's Dance To The Music of Time. If you thought Interstellar was epic, try watching Kenneth Branagh's adaptation of Hamlet.
15: Perfect fit
'Tis the season for eating, drinking and fretting about what the waistline. And if all your seasonal noshing and gurgling is coming after a year of sloth, you'd best start the fitness regime before New Year's. Our suggestion is to pick a goal - say the 8.4km Round the Bays run on March 8 and get training. Try using Force Fit, a new fitness app developed to meet the basic fitness requirements for joining the New Zealand's Navy, Army or Air Force. Free on iOS and Android.
Ports of Auckland Round the Bays. Photo / Sarah Ivey
16: Growing up
If you're looking for something for the kids to do over the summer hols, get them digging. Teaching children how to grow their own vegetables is not only an extremely important life lesson, with a little bit of help and a little bit of luck along with a fair measure of water, your kids and you will be dining from your own patch. Even better, your kids can sell the excess for pocket money. The best vegetables to plant over the summer period include lettuces, silverbeet, beans, green peppers, carrots, corn, cucumbers, tomatoes, zucchini and watermelon.
17: Howzat, etc!
The roar of the crowd is never louder than when you're in the middle of it, so make sure you make it along to one of the big set piece events happening in Auckland over summer. Whatever your age, no summer is complete without a big day out, even if there's no longer a Big Day Out. The Black Caps play just two matches at Eden Park this season - one-dayers against Sri Lanka and Australia - so you'll have to be quick picking up good seats. There's the ASB and Heineken Tennis Opens, too, and, for those wanting to explore the more left-field side of music, there's the Laneway and Splore festivals.
18: View to a thrill
Aucklanders are spoiled for views: go up the Sky Tower or any reasonably sized volcano and you'll have a fair view of our fair city. However, one of the prettiest views you'll find in the region is of the Fairy Falls in the Waitakere Ranges. The falls can be approached from two directions (Scenic Drive and Mountain Rd), but we recommend going from Scenic Drive: there's parking and it's only 45 minutes to the falls (or a one-and-a-half-hour round trip). See regionalparks.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz for more details.
19: Get training
So what's all the fuss about electric trains? If you don't live near a railway station or you don't use public transport, chances are you haven't been aboard one of Auckland Transport's new electric trains, which began serving the Southern Line this year and will start going west sometime next year. They're amazingly comfortable and, even if you're not commuting, they're a great way to get around Auckland.
20: Fear factor
Catch the train (see #19) to Manukau - that's exciting ride number one - and, after walking 10 minutes to Rainbow's End, experience exciting ride number two, the "Stratosfear". Apparently the only ride of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere, the Stratosfear looks to work a bit like a giant pendulum, spinning 360 degrees as you sit in a large circular gondola facing outwards. Gulp! See rainbowsend.co.nz/rides/stratosfear for more info.
The Stratosfear attraction at Rainbow's End.
21: With a paddle
One of the most exciting, low-fi ways to enjoy our harbour isn't in a fizz boat or hoping the wind catches your sails, it's paddling in a sea kayak. You can rent them, though previous sea kayaking experience is a must. Beginners are better off booking a trip with Auckland Sea Kayaks (they have close to a perfect score on tripadvisor.co.nz). We recommended the sunset paddle to Rangitoto for $185, which includes dinner, refreshments and amazing views of the city. See aucklandseakayaks.co.nz.
22: Citizen cone
Sure you've been up Rangitoto (you have been up Rangitoto, haven't you?). And Mt Eden, Mt Albert and One Tree Hill. But what of the other 46 volcanoes in Auckland? The Auckland volcanic field is an area of about 360 sq km centred on Auckland city and it is worth exploring its amazing variety this summer. It wouldn't hurt by starting with the permanent volcanoes exhibition at the Auckland Museum before investigating them up close. More information and maps at gns.cri.nz.
23: Lights, smartphone, action
If Auckland's weather decides not to play along (or even if it does), make it family movie time. And no we don't mean turning on the telly. We are talking about conceiving, writing, filming and editing your own film using your smartphone to film it and you tablet/computer to edit it. Get the kids involved, come up with a story, decide who is going to write, act and direct and get filming.
24: Korero maori
Learning a language, any language, is good for the brain. However, learning te reo is good for New Zealand too. Don't expect fluency in a summer, but it should be more than enough time to get your mind and mouth around the basics. See korero.maori.nz.
25: Top gun
As Tom Cruise says in the best flyboy movie of all time: "I feel the need - the need for speed!" If going a bit Top Gun this summer is a thing you feel you might want to do, look no further than Jetfighter, an Auckland-based company offering two fighterplane experiences: either in a BAC 167 Strikemaster, a jet once owned by the RNZAF, or a North American P51 Mustang, the best American fighter aircraft of World War II. It ain't cheap - flights start at $2499 for just 20 minutes - but what price speed? What price flying in a jetfighter? See jetfighter.co.nz for more information.
