First Date Ideas For Over 60s In New Zealand

A first date at sixty something has exactly one job, and it isn't to sweep anybody off their feet. It's to work out whether you'd like a second one. That's a much smaller ask, and it makes choosing where to go a lot easier. You want somewhere you can hear each other, somewhere neither of you has to drive an hour to reach, and something with a natural finish so nobody ends up trapped. Here are six that do the job.

1. Dinner

The obvious one, and obvious for good reason. Everybody knows how dinner works, so there's nothing to be nervous about beyond the company. The thing worth getting right is the room. Somewhere with hard floors, loud music and tables jammed together will have you both nodding along to sentences you didn't catch, which is a miserable way to spend two hours. Ring ahead and ask for a quiet table if you're not sure. Think about the trip as well, because a place that's ten minutes from you might be the far side of the harbour for them. And if they pick somewhere you'd never choose yourself, go anyway. You'll learn something about them, which is the entire point.

2. Country Walk

Walking is the great secret weapon of first dates, because you're side by side instead of staring across a table, and there's scenery to fall back on whenever the conversation needs a breather. It doesn't have to be a proper tramp. A reserve, a coastal track, the botanic gardens or a flat stretch of DOC track near town will all do nicely. Agree the distance beforehand so nobody's quietly suffering in the wrong shoes, and check the forecast, because you know as well as I do that it can turn. If you've got a dog, bring it. You'll find out within about ninety seconds whether they're a dog person, which is more than some couples establish in a year.

3. City Bus Tour

Underrated, this one. It's ideal if one of you is new to the area, and surprisingly good even if you've both lived here forty years, because the commentary always turns up something neither of you knew. It also solves the hardest problem with first dates, which is what to talk about. You've got a running supply of prompts going past the window and the sitting down is done for you. In the bigger centres the harbour ferries do the same job for the price of a fare, and if you're 65 or over that fare is free off-peak on your SuperGold Card.

4. Cinema

People will tell you the pictures are a poor first date because you can't talk. They're missing the point. The film is the easy bit. What you're really doing is going for a coffee afterwards with something to talk about already handed to you, which takes the pressure off completely. Better still, Event run Seniors Morning Tea Screenings on Mondays and Wednesdays: morning tea at 10, film at half past, and a built-in half hour of talking before anybody has to sit in the dark. Cinebuzz Seniors membership is free if you're over 65. Hoyts do a discounted seat for the over 60s on anything starting before 5pm.

5. Boating

Plenty of parks and lakefronts still hire out rowing boats and paddle boats by the half hour, and there's a reason this works. It's slightly ridiculous. Neither of you will be much good at it, you'll spend a fair bit of the time going in circles, and it's very hard to stay awkward with somebody while you're both laughing at how badly it's going. Half an hour is about the perfect length for a first date too, long enough to get talking and short enough that you can go your separate ways if it isn't clicking. Somebody will get wet. It won't be the end of the world.

6. Garden Centre

Not glamorous. Genuinely good. A decent garden centre gives you a couple of easy hours: something to look at, plenty to point at, a cafe to stop in halfway round, and absolutely no pressure to perform. Palmers have been at it since 1912 and most have a Cafe Botannix attached; if you're in Auckland, Kings Plant Barn have cafes too. If you both garden you'll be away, comparing notes on what won't grow for you and what the possums keep getting at. If only one of you does, that's fine as well, because people are always worth listening to on the subject they love most. Buy them something small on the way out. A herb in a pot beats flowers that die by Thursday.

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