Overview
Don’t roll your eyes at me, lone wolves, these recommendations aren’t couples exclusive, you’re more than welcome to take a platonic date along. But now that we’ve finally put the coldest months behind us, and we are entering the season of small animals, summer flowers and sunny(er) days, it’s time to come out of hibernation. Finish up the last season of Friends, close your laptop, and put some goddamn pants on for once in your life. Spring is here and it is time to emerge from solitary confinement and start being social in time for summer. September’s line up is looking pretty fresh, so use it as a way to repair the bonds you broke when you shunned your friends and significant other in favour of Netflix and your electric blanket.
1. Wine and Food Celebration
Restaurant Month is over, but we need not sink into a depression, W&F is a three-day celebration of the two best things in life. If you’ve got a wino beau or foodie friend, there is no better way to force their eternal love than by treating them with tickets to some of the shows during the festival. Head to Mexican Street Eats with chef Alfredo Romero to get your fiesta on, or a romantic teaching of Italian wines with Joelle Thomson, or a coffee masterclass for caffeine addicts. Bond while you learn about things that you can then go do together for the rest of ever. Like eating and drinking stuff.
2. Oktoberfest + German Film Festival
Oktoberfest is fast approaching. Our local imitation of the German beer festival is taking place at Turanga Creek Vineyard and you can get a meal, stein, pour token and a full eight hours of live music and entertainment for $80. During the lead up to the big fest, you can take your date/mate along to the German Film Festival from the September 8-13 to get yourselves in the know about all things Deutsche.
3. Night Photography
People say spring is the prettiest time of the year, which might be why photography events increase tenfold this season. Photography lessons make for great bonding sessions, since once you’ve learnt the ins and outs of snapping away, you can go on awesome photo-taking adventures together. I did this night photography class in Silo Park and now, not to blow my own horn, I’m basically Annie Leibovitz behind the lens. It’s an investment, but you get a free refreshment course any time within six months, which is great because sometimes you forget what you learnt because you had a bottle of wine before the course.
The catch is that you have to bring your own equipment, which can be a huge expense. But you can find everything you need for a steal on this new site Thieve (see what I did there?). It’s basically a curated platform for all the best stuff from AliExpress, which has been taken and made super easy to navigate and find what you’re looking for. But the product still retains its inexpensive price tag, and has been approved by the Thieve team, so you know it’s authentic, quality stuff. This isn’t a Thieve ad. Just thought I’d help y’all out with a tip for bargain camera equipment.
4. Landscape Photography Workshop
Yes another photography-based date, but this is different and still awesome. It also includes a road trip. Take your mate and a car and some ski gear and head to the mountain for a weekend. Ski the slopes, take some snaps as you do it. Once again Thieve has got you covered when it comes to grabbing a camera and all the gadgets that go along with it for your excursion. Still not an ad, the site is just unbelievably cheap. I’m talking pick up a bag of every GoPro accessory you could ever need for $10 kind of cheap. Check it.
And then head to the Landscape Photography Workshop in Tongariro National Park to better your abilities behind the camera. The workshop includes accommodation, breakfast, lunch and tuition. You can’t beat that if you’re in the market for a romantic getaway.
5. Still
Go test out your new artistic knowledge and flaunt your photo vocab at Still. The interactive WWI memorial is a piece of art that requires audience participation in order to exist. Experience the war by having your face photographed in real time and presented alongside other participants around the globe, as well as archived images from soldiers who fought in the war. Go through that sombre yet enlightening experience together and you’ll have a conversation topic for life.
6. Arboria
If you want to take your date/mate along to something unlike they’ve ever experienced before, Arboria in Aotea Square would be a good bet. The inflatable architectural phenomenon is a maze of illuminated paths and dome rooms that resemble the serenity of the forest, matched with a soundtrack originated in the Ecuadorian Cloud Forest.
7. Food Space
Because the quickest way to a man’s, or woman’s, or any sane person’s heart is through their stomach, you should go forge some friendships at Food Space this month. A gathering of all of our favourite food trucks at Wynyard Quarter, including Stumpy’s Pizza, Toro Churro and The Food Truck. Even the pickiest of eaters will be satisfied with the endless options on offer.
8. Cats
Find out if the relationship is even worth pursuing by subtly testing their taste in animals by suggesting Cats, the musical, as a date night. The second best kind of cats, the musical materialisation of everyone’s favourite being in the animal kingdom has been playing since its debut in 1981, and continues to perform to sold-out crowds worldwide. Head along for a night of feline-themed theatre, because in reality, if they don’t like cats, both the purring type and the performing type, do you really need them in your life?