YEAR AWAY IN NEW ZEALAND...ANY ADViCE????

Question

Hi guys,

I am going to New Zealand on Sept 7th for a year on a working holiday visa.

I will be mostly based in ChristChurch (south island, east coast) but plan to travel all over...

Anyone got any advise for me????

Where to go?What to do??

Anything I've just GOT TO see or do????

Got all the travel books available but you can't beat 1st hand experience!!!!

Thanks!!xx

Answer 1

Take a lot of money ! you'll know why after looking at my source !

Answer 2

Ignor sebcue, he is  a fuckwit

New zealand; there is so much to do

Moved to here from australia and never looked back

Answer 3

'sebcue'

Your answer is closer to the truth than most New Zealanders will ever care to admit. I agree with much of what you say, though not all of it.

NZers love to criticise foreigners, but can't take being criticised themselves. Sad really.

I expect the 'thumbs down' aplenty, which of course will reinforce what I've said.

Answer 4

do everything!!!!! my girlfriend got friendly with a pilot over there so was flown to a glacier for a date!!! (b4 i met her) go there with an open mind and have the time of you life!!!

Answer 5

Golden Bay. An easy bus trip from Christchurch. Try Nelson and then Malborough Sounds...There are heaps of things to do and places to see.

Best way to see the country is with a local, jump off the tourist trail and get friendly with a local. Carefully though!

Take it easy and travel wisely!

http://radio.weblogs.com/0128644/

Check this out http://radio.weblogs.com/0128644/

Answer 6

NZ has a kind of social complexity that you do not encounter in any other country.

There is a strong bullying culture at work environment especially towards foreigners.

It is a small isolated country. So what you think the major source of income is. Of course it is agriculture and tourism.The problem is because salaries are low most educated people leave for better income overseas. This creates a big problem.. As I said it is a small country.So what do you think people might feel when most young generation emigrate. Well they feel they are invaded by foreigner migrants especially Asians, Indians and others. For many years white people dominated the country and Maories were lower class citizens. When  the white young generation is emigrating the country, fear of losing the power and fear of losing the working class (age 16-45) can cause a hostile environment towards new comers….If you spend some time with them you will see how much they adore and admire themselves and their younger ones compared to other nationalities no matter where they are from…..This is a dominant culture…even if a kiwi commits a crime if the victim is not a main stream New Zealander the chances that lawyers and justice protect their own people is quiet high. Because they want to keep their people and stop them from leaving. This culture exists in all of them .Almost all of them…politicians, doctors, lawyers, taxi drivers, farmers…..almost all of them maybe because they want to teach them to value their country and stay….however because tourism is their biggest source of income over many many years of dealing with migrants and foreigners they know they need migrants for their money….I have never seen any other nationality in the world being able to rip off so skilfully as kiwis. They make a slave out of you. They make you work for free. Most skilled migrants are young, motivated, and energetic and have some saving. They come to NZ to make a better life. They spend some of their best years of life, the first five years after leaving their country to work hard to achieve nothing instead. I have seen many families break up; I have seen many of them get depressed. A lot of them leave NZ after a few years of putting up with abuse, some leave for Australia; some go back to their home country. Some of the migrants who have some kind of support network and can stand the abuse or work as self-employed may stay and instead the way they cope with this culture is they turn to be like their kiwi abusive mates. I have seen some of them start cheating, stealing and exploiting others to be able to mentally integrate into the society around them and of course some of them do none of these and stay the way they were but in a less motivated, depressed slavery mood. Ironically when foreigners get ripped off by kiwis they get blamed for not being careful. I have seen young rich Japanese students who get bashed and their money get stolen but instead they will get criticized of being careless. Kiwi students and young generation have this mentality that foreigners are rich, are pain free and they have their money because their mummy and daddy gives them their money and they do not work hard for it so they deserve their money to be taken away from them because this is the kiwi land and if these foreigners want to stay here they should help us with our economy. We are the best people in this world, our country is the most beautiful country in the world, our government is the least corrupted government of the world (of course that is the other way round), our graduates are the brightest in the world, our poo and wee is from gold and because of all these all non-kiwis should adore us and pay us lots and lots of money because we deserve it. New Zealanders are very jealous towards Australians. You just need to tell them how better Australia is compared to NZ. Then you get a sheep thrown to your head and they f**t angrily into your face. I have seen some of these kiwis when they come to Australia they brag about their country to other nationalities to encourage them to visit their country and this way to help their highly dependent economy. Some of them say funny lies, For example they say they have lived in many countries all around the world and nowhere else is like New Zealand , The best wheater, the best health system, the best education, the best and most friendly people, no corruption, no crime, affordable and great lifestyle, etc, etc. The funny thing is some of them claim they were Aussies and now live in NZ because Australia had lots of crime, Australians were racist, Australia was this and that and NZ is the best place on earth and even the whole entire universe to live! If you do not know them well you poor naïve person will believe all these and if you know them well somehow you just feel sorry.

However about 35% of the population rely on social benefits (a lot of elderly left alone by their children, a lot on sickness benefits and lots skill less Maories), 70% of the medical school graduates leave the country after 2 years of finishing their studies and only one third of foreign doctors remain in this country to work due to poor working conditions. You can imagine how dangerous it can be to become sick in this country. Studies show a great percentage of migrants lose their health after being and living in NZ due to poor health system comparable to third world countries even worse. Although they claim their country is safe but if you live there you feel how dangerous it is : high bullying rate at work, constant ripping off, constant pressure from local main stream New Zealanders to suck more blood from you and poor health system and poor service due to lack of skilled professionals.

Because most migrants leave after a few years the government tried to make it longer to get NZ citizenship to keep them in NZ longer. They just try to make everything longer, stretching the time they can suck up more blood. They make it more difficult for everyone to get entry to the country just to make them more eager and make their own value higher. It is just like a rouge trade person who makes you wait and run after him before he comes to your house and does all the repairing and asks you a lot of money. It is just a way of torture to take whatever they can from anyone who goes to their country because this is the only way they can have income. Otherwise except exporting agricultural products there is nothing else to be able to produce significant profit. The number one source of money over the last few decades were international students, when the number of students and skilled migrants drops they do every effort to attract them into the country and then just drag them from here to there to take their money out of their pocket and how cunning and skilled they are in this industry God knows. For example, they stupefy these students and ask them to take papers which are more expensive .You just will be amazed by their ability. Nearly almost everyone knows some tricks when it comes to meeting other nationalities. They are superficially friendly to get your trust and make a fool out of you. Because the nature is green, beautiful and peaceful a high percentage of new comers get fooled... The best preys are some naïve idiot foreigners from third world countries. They know how to bully people around the globe if they can to be able to shake them till all the money falls out of their pockets.

If you live in small city after a while you realise how much they are dependent on the money foreigners bring in .You just feel you are constantly have to feed them and let them suck and that will never end. If you are skilled you have to work for long hours with low pay, what they claim is our pay is low but we offer a great lifestyle. They have very particular ways of satisfying you instead of low pay, for example they give you the power to control others, greasingly admire you, superficially make friend with you, respect you and the list goes on and on….Then when it comes to daily life activities you gradually realise your dangerous position. If you have a computer problem for example: first of all there are not much good professionals to know what they are doing secondly they ask you a fortune for just doing nothing. I remember I had to leave my computer in a shop for some technical problems, he just did nothing, absolutely nothing and then asked me to come and pick up the computer, when I got home, I just felt hopeless. Where could I go to complain and how can I prove it. I have already paid and there was no way to claim it back. I decided to move out and sell some of my furniture. The guy from a tender centre came and picked up all my belongings and told me he would sell it. I waited weeks after weeks and had to pay a lot for mobile bill to ring him. But he never sent me back any money. I wrote a complaint to the local court but again if I wanted to do anything I had to pay twice to lawyers and the court itself to solve the problem. As they had no customer to get money from….It was ridiculous. If you sit among them you just feel sick. They just admire themselves and f**t on you and then you feel your head is spinning and you have to leave.

Answer 7

I lived in Christchurch for a year - also the Sunniest place in NZ, Nelson for many more years. http://nelsonnz.com

Nelson has great beaches, vineyards, heaps of outdoor adventure and art centres.

Near by is Abel Tasman National Park, http://www.abeltasman.co.nz Kaiterteri – golden sand beaches.

A must to walk the track, kayak down there or even water-taxi.  Swim with the seals. Stay at http://www.awaroalodge.co.nz/ - Gorgeous place . . .and must see !!!!

http://www.kaiteriteribeach.co.nz

http://www.seakayaking.co.nz

http://www.southern-exposure.co.nz

Happy Valley - Cable Bay in Nelson is a hoot.  I had such fun there http://www.happyvalleyadventures.co.nz  

You must go to 'the Honest Lawyer' at Monaco in Nelson.  A pub, resturant and accommodation.  A must to have dinnner there, great food and the pub is amazing!!  http://www.honestlawyer.co.nz

Have fun in NZ.

Answer 8

Not really but have a great time anyway,any room in your suitcase,lol.

Answer 9

Get some transport 1st.Travel the whole place-each island top to bottom.When in  Christchurch drive out to Methven and drive up Mt Hutt-amazing views of the Plains.

Also an absolute must is the Tongariro crossing in the central plateau(near Taupo).Only a couple of days are needed in any other of the big cities.Whale watching in Kaikoura is wicked too.

Answer 10

christchurch is my home

the best city in NZ if you ask me

and Nzers are not racist, we are friendly people. you will be very welcome in NZ

definitely go to Mount Cook

and Both of the glaciers Fox And Franz JOseph

Hanmer Springs most definitely so touristy up there and is close to Christchurch.

Queenstown is beautiful aswell, lots to do there. go to Nelson and the marlbourough sounds that place is really pretty

and take the ferry across the Cook Strait and go to Taupo and the Huka Falls

Auckland isnt much to see (haha) but yeah

Kaikoura (a couple of hours away from christchurch) is good too, go whale watching

best experience !

hope you have a great time =]

Answer 11

I used to live in christchurch, now im in dunedin. Christchurch is pretty nice, i would suggest rowing on the avon, i used to do it all the time when I was a kid and i miss it! Theres all the regular touristy things like going to the cathedral, the gardens etc. You should go out to Sumner and take a surfing lesson or something!

Wanaka and Queenstown are also awesome, its snowboarding and skiing season! And you could bungee jump if you wanted to in queenstown, i did that it was pretty fun. Nelson is nice too, I have family there and we usually go up there for the summer- has some of the nicest rivers to go to for a day or so- good swimming. The beaches there are also good. Anyway, I guess I'm bias but theres quite alot to do in NZ and chch and i havent been too bored living here!

Answer 12

Don't worry and don't be shy - the locals are really friendly. Explore the whole country. South island: Dunedin, Nelson, the glaciers. North Island: Wellington, Taupo, Rotorua, Napier, Auckland (love it!) The country is full of beautiful sights. Christchurch is a great little city. You will have such a good time!

Answer 13

My niece went for a long stay she took a mobile phone with no Sim card .Then bought a Sim card in NZ it was cheaper to call home that way.good luck

Answer 14

I went over there on a working holiday visa a few years ago....was definitely an INTERESTING experience!

I'm from Vancouver Canada, and lived in the capital of NZ-Wellington (the second largest city in NZ, on the southern tip of the north island)...

The visa I had was c**p because I could only work for an employee for three months at a time so I hope that yours is better!!

Any particular reason that you chose to be based in Christchurch? It's a quaint city....but I didn't find that there was that much to do...(however, I prefer to live in a city with lots to do-which is why Wellington was great!)

Must sees:

Milford Sound (I did an over night cruise which was awesome -saw wild dolphins there!!)

Any of the glacier hikes on the south island

I liked Queenstown-take the gondola ride and try out the luge!

Wellington:

-take the trolley from downtown on Lampson Quay up to the top of the Botanical Gardens

-Te Papa Museum is really cool

-Oriental Bay is nice

-Chocolate Fish Cafe is a great place for an ice cream or a hot chocolate -it's right on the beach!!

-check out the beehive (the parliament buildings)

-city views from the university are pretty cool

Mnt Tongariro is an AMAZZZZING hike!!! That is a deffo on the north island!! Make sure to do it in the spring/summer and not in the winter...

Lake Taupo is a cool tourist place...

Rotorua is neat, but SMELLY(sulphur)..lol...I saw geysers and bubbling mud!!

The Coromandal has AMAZING beaches...breathtaking!! camping up there is fun!!

Advice:

-look both ways when crossing the street...lol (unless you come from a country that drives on the left side)

-rent is paid weekly

-taxes are included in all prices

-try the kapiti ice cream!!

-the roads are super winding, and their highways are c**p (for instance, one way bridges in the middle of the highway) -but that could have changed since I was there...

-gases prices where crazy then, so I can't image what they must be now

***Bring a digital camera as photo developing was really expensive when I was there

I found it to be a lot more conservative than here in North America, but I also lived with some really conservative guys while there...

I lived on the north island, and as I didn't have anyone to travel down to the south island with, I did a tour with Contiki...which was great! They do tours of both islands for people aged 18-35 yrs!!!

Good luck, hope that you have a wonderful time!!