12Aug 2020 by Dave Macleod No Comments
#41 Go on a Blob

#41 Go on a Blob

BUCKET LIST, TRAVEL
This bucket list item was completed on 21st September 2014 in Tauranga, New Zealand. This post follows on from my previous post, #65 Go Whitewater Rafting, which describes the start of my travels with my brother during his trip to New Zealand. After leaving Rotorua we kept moving north and drove straight to the Coromandel Peninsula, stopping at a hostel near Hahei. We stayed at the hostel for two nights and used it as our home base while we explored the surrounding area. Cathedral Cove One morning, after breakfast, we took off to discover Hot Water Beach. The beach gets its name from a natural underground hot spring located directly below the sand. Hot water, up to 65 °C, bubbles up through the sand that is exposed during the two…
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29Jul 2020 by Dave Macleod No Comments
Harnessing the Power of Time Zones

Harnessing the Power of Time Zones

GENERAL
I have always found travel logistics very fun to figure out. Flights, hotels, tours and transfers are all just pieces of an intricate puzzle that must be constructed in a logical manner. And I love puzzles. I rarely use travel agents, because I enjoy constructing my own trips. Building my trips from the ground up is a way for me to use my creative side. The most creative travel idea that I have ever come up with, came to me just as I was falling asleep one night at the start of 2019. An idea so good, that I leapt out of bed, in a mad panic to locate my phone or a notepad, in the dark. I made the note and went back to bed, excited for morning, when…
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15Jul 2020 by Dave Macleod No Comments
[#65 Lesson] Variety in Adventure

[#65 Lesson] Variety in Adventure

BUCKET LIST, LESSON
This life lesson relates to my previous blog post #65 Go Whitewater Rafting. When I crossed #65 off my list, it was the first time I had ever been whitewater rafting. The only other time was last year, with my mum, along the Grand Canyon. Both were whitewater rafting tours, but they were vastly different. The Kaituna River experience was short, only 50 minutes long, but it was packed with Grade 5 rapids and a huge 7 metre waterfall. The Grand Canyon was a 4‑day adventure with up to 8 hours on the river each day. We only tackled Grade 3 & 4 rapids on this trip and the scenery was the total opposite of the New Zealand bush along the Kaituna. Kaituna River The thing is, both were amazing…
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01Jul 2020 by Dave Macleod No Comments
#65 Go Whitewater Rafting

#65 Go Whitewater Rafting

BUCKET LIST, TRAVEL
This bucket list item was completed on 17th September 2014 in Rotorua, New Zealand. I had been living in New Zealand for about a year when my brother, Galen, sent me an email saying that he had some money saved up and wanted to come and visit me. Galen and I love adventure activities and after hearing about all the exciting experiences I had been having in New Zealand, he wanted to come and experience some of them for himself. After exchanging a few emails, we had sorted out a good time for him to visit and he booked his flights. He would be coming for five weeks and wanted to experience as much of New Zealand as possible. We came up with an awesome adventure itinerary of New Zealand…
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17Jun 2020 by Dave Macleod No Comments
[#93 Lesson] Room for Improvement

[#93 Lesson] Room for Improvement

BUCKET LIST, LESSON
This life lesson relates to my previous blog post #93 Take an IQ Test. “Once you stop learning, you start dying”    – Albert Einstein Renowned as one of the great minds of the 20th century, Albert Einstein has taught this world a lot. His words were simple, but this quote has echoed with me for several years. I have done my best to adopt this mentality and my life is fueled by constantly learning new things. I’d say trying a new sport or activity is my favourite way to learn. It’s the right blend of a mental workload, exercise and usually involves a shot of adrenaline in there every now and then. This is why skydiving has grabbed a hold of me so strongly. When people ask me what it’s…
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03Jun 2020 by Dave Macleod No Comments
#93 Take an IQ Test

#93 Take an IQ Test

BUCKET LIST
This bucket list item was completed on 6th August 2014 in New Plymouth, New Zealand. I think we have all taken those online IQ test where you answer a few multiple-choice questions and then it spits out a result. “Congratulations! Your IQ is ‘blah blah blah’! You are in the top ‘blah blah blah’ percent of the world!” This wasn’t for me… I was always curious about my IQ, but if I was going to do a test, I wanted it to be a legitimate one. I started Googling to see what was available in New Plymouth and it turned out there were a few psychology practices that administered IQ tests. I called around and got a few prices before landing on one. I was pretty broke at the time,…
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20May 2020 by Dave Macleod 2 Comments
[#21 Lesson] Ask for Help

[#21 Lesson] Ask for Help

LESSON
This life lesson relates to my previous blog post #21 Ride in a Helicopter. When I started working at Core Group and learned that they regularly fly helicopters as part of their services, I identified that they had the resources to help me cross another item off my bucket list. My position at the company did not require me to take part in the pipeline flights. I knew that if I wanted to make this happen, I was going to have to ask for it.  When I asked Mark if I could come on the flight to cross another item off my list, he was happy to help me out. I have always been an independent person, even from a young age. I like to do things by myself sometimes…
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06May 2020 by Dave Macleod No Comments
#21 Ride in a Helicopter

#21 Ride in a Helicopter

BUCKET LIST
This bucket list item was completed on 14th March 2014 in New Plymouth, New Zealand. Once I settled in New Plymouth, the first big boy engineering job I landed was as a project engineer for a company called Core Group Limited. Core Group offer project management and pipeline integrity services to the oil and gas industry in the Taranaki region.  Part of Core Group’s services include conducting helicopter flights along the easements where their clients have pipelines laid. This is to ensure that that are no threats to the pipelines such as civil earth works or farmers digging up their paddock overtop of the pipelines.  I knew that our company conducted these pipeline flights every month and I thought that this might be my chance to cross another item off…
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22Apr 2020 by Dave Macleod No Comments
[#10 Lesson] Strive For Freedom

[#10 Lesson] Strive For Freedom

LESSON
This life lesson relates to my previous blog post #10 Buy My Own Car. I think this is a lesson that we have all learned, time and time again. With each new phase of our lives, comes an aspect where we yearn for freedom. When you’re crawling as a baby, you want to learn to walk so you can go further and explore more of your surroundings. When you’re old enough to drive you want your licence so that you don’t have to get your loser parents to drive you around. When you’re old enough to move out of the house you look for a flat so that you no longer have to live with your loser parents. **I am speaking generically here. My parents were not “losers”, they were…
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08Apr 2020 by Dave Macleod No Comments
#10 Buy My Own Car

#10 Buy My Own Car

BUCKET LIST
This bucket list item was completed on 10th February 2014 in New Plymouth, New Zealand. During high school and university, I always had the use of a family vehicle. I had a 4WD Ford Escape that I took on many camping and surfing missions throughout Nova Scotia. It was great to always have a vehicle to use but I never had my own car, purchased with my own money. I thought this was a good item to put on the list. When Kyle and I first landed in Auckland, we bought a car to begin our road trip throughout New Zealand. I say “we”, but Kyle was the one who bought the car with his money. We shared the expenses on the car while we were travelling but at the…
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