Living in New Zealand Part 1: Before You Go

The world is full of incredible places, and you don't have to come to New Zealand to have an awesome, life-changing, insert-cliché-of-choice overseas experience. But I've written plenty about travel in general over the last three months. Now that Alec and I have had time to get to know the place, I'm going to use the next three to take a deeper look at New Zealand travel specifically. Life in the closest thing Earth has to Middle Earth is pretty great, and if any of you reading this have been following the blog with mild (or extreme) jealousy, I encourage you to consider taking the necessary steps to go on a Kiwi adventure of your own. Over the next few posts, I'm going to attempt to give a comprehensive, roughly chronological overview of everything you need to know to plan and execute a trip to pretty much the coolest country ever.

Of course Hobbiton is a real place. 

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Before You Go...

You will, minimum, need to buy plane tickets and get a visa (and passport if you don't have one). It's also a good idea to form a rough idea of where in the country you want to spend your time, and how. Note that if you want to fly by the seat of your pants, you can just figure all that out once you get here. Either way, I'll take you through the preparation process so you don't have to do all the Google searching Alec and I did before we left.

1. Let's fly, let's fly away. A while back, a Kiwi heard I was from the States and asked me, "Did you fly here?" Winner. Fact is, unless you want to spend tens of thousands of dollars on freight passage, or you happen to have the skills necessary to sail across the Pacific, flying is your only option. You can get direct flights from LA or San Francisco to Auckland or Wellington for $600-$800 one way. Yes, that means the round trip will put you out about $1200-$1400, unless you hit on a deal somewhere (lucky you). To find the best prices, you've got to do the leg work. Some tips:

• Compare as many fares as possible. For flights from CA, look at Air New Zealand and United. 
• If you're departing from elsewhere in the States, try Orbitz and Kayak for combined tickets. 
• Be aware of baggage allowance, because more and more airlines are charging for checked bags. 
• It's typically cheaper to fly in the middle of the week (Monday-Wednesday). 
• Take note of trip duration, because it can vary widely, and trust me, it makes a big difference. 

2. Do you have papers? If you don't have a passport, you should, so get on that. Moving on. US tourists don't need visas to enter New Zealand, but if you want to work in any capacity, you will need what's called the Working Holiday Visa. Read about the details here. Basically, you can apply online for $140 USD, and if you're between 18 and 30 and a US citizen, you'll get the visa. Do this as soon as you have your tickets (not before, since you need to provide travel details on the app). Once you have it, you can stay in the country for up to a year and work anywhere you can get a job.

Ninety Mile Beach, the longest beach in New Zealand and the 4th longest in the world. 

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3. Pick your poison. Both the North and the South Islands of New Zealand are amazing. It's difficult to get from one to the other (you have to fly or take a long, expensive ferry ride), so you'll either need to pick one or switch at some point on your trip (Alec and I are about to head down South for the second half of our time here). The point is, don't expect to hop back and forth a bunch, because the Cook Straight ain't the Long Island Sound if you know what I mean. Here's a basic geographic breakdown to help you decide where to spend your time: 

• The climate is upside down; North = warmer (sub-tropic) and South = colder (temperate). 
• Both have both, but for beaches, think North Island; for mountains, think South Island. 
• The 2 largest cities (Auckland and Wellington) and 7 of the top 10 are on the North Island. 
• Out of over 30,000 square km of National Park land, over 26,000 are on the South Island. 
• Out of the 9 renowned Great Walks, 3 are on the North Island and 6 on the South Island. 

4. Sing for your supper. If you're looking to spend more than a short vacation in New Zealand, and you don't want to spend your life savings (or you don't have life savings), this is a biggie. Once you know where you want to go, you need to decide how you're going to live once you get here. Essentially your options are 1) find a paid job (likely minimum wage or close to it) and figure out living expenses, or 2) find a volunteer position in exchange for food and lodging. I've already written general articles on both (see here and here), but for those who are interesting in coming to New Zealand, my next post will be on a range of Kiwi-specific work opportunities. Check back soon!