Any New Zealanders here?
Wednesday, July 1st, 2009 - 11:56pm
I've been approved a Working Holiday permit in New Zealand so I'm probably going to spend a whole year over there starting September. Could someone give me any tips or volunteer to receive a phone call if I get completely lost?
Also, I have no idea what kind of work I'll be able to find, if any. I've been checking www.seasonalwork.co.nz, but if you guys know of any open position in those months please let me know. I have experience in IT but a job is a job.
I'm one, in Wellington, and happy to answer questions.
I can't help with the job, I'm afraid. Or even with the general feel of the market - it's been a few years since I was last looking.
Pffft, New Zealand. You won't find many New Zealanders there, they're all over here in Australia.
NathanialG wrote:
Strewth wrote:
I'm wearing an All Blacks rugby shirt - but that's the best I can do.
I avoid online multiplayer because my brain still works.
I'm a case in point! At the risk of being unpatriotic, pretty much everything from the climate to the pay is better over here. I think NZ might win on landscape and race relations, but that's about it. Oh, and we don't try and pass off Carlton Draught or VB as beer.
NZ was hit pretty hard by the GFC from what I've heard, so IT jobs might be a bit scarce. There should still be seasonal work around though. I would try looking around central Otago (Queenstown, Wanaka, Alexandra, Cromwell) in the South Island. There are a lot of orchards/vineyards and a bunch of skifields, both of which are good for seasonal jobs. It's also a very pretty area - they filmed a fair bit of Lord of the Rings around there IIRC.
Nelson and Coramandel get a lot of tourists in the summer, so they might have some seasonal work too.
SpacePPoliceman wrote:
Steam
You might want to check the terms of your working holiday permit to see if it will allow you to do IT work if you're already in the IT field. Certainly the way it is for us Antipodeans living in the UK.
I've got family who own a couple of pubs in Christchurch, I can make some calls if you're stuck.
Amoebic wrote:
steam | xbox | bgg
If you visit New Zealand, you have to LOVE sheep. Remember this.
Also, go into a bar and yell, THE NEXT SHOUT IS ON ME! Instant friendship!
I asked my wife the same thing last night. She replied with "stop being a moron and wash the damned dishes" -- Paleocon asking his wife about zombies
Also, instant poverty.
SpacePPoliceman wrote:
Steam
I certainly love how they taste, specially in barbacoa. We're allowed to eat them, right?
From the Working Holiday conditions at the immigration web site I think any job goes, except for "commercial sexual services"
. They encourage that we take seasonal jobs, which I will be happy to do, but I'd like to spend a part of that year working in a city too.
Thanks a lot for the offer Maq, I appreciate it and will keep it in mind.
How long does the ski season last? Or there's snow all the time in Central Otago? I would like to work in a place with snow, it would be a very welcome change from the 40 C, dry heat summer days we're having here, to say the least.
My flight will be arriving in Auckland and I guess I will spend a couple of days there at least, is there anything I should or shouldn't do while I'm in there? Anything I shouldn't miss? Any areas of town where being a foreigner and having no clue what's going on could be particularly dangerous?
I've read about the inverted V sign with the fingers, which we use all the time when we need to indicate "twoness", so I hope I don't accidentally do that in NZ.
Also, if you see a farmer "amusing" himself with a sheep, don't ask if he should be shearing it.
Kiwi's don't shear their sheep wuth enybody.
Amoebic wrote:
steam | xbox | bgg
I'd love to live in New Zealand, and not just for the free livestock sex.
I'd like to go visit Prozac and throw giant spiders at his head. But then, I'm a stupid American and my sense of geography is so messed up I assume going from New Zealand to Australia is like a weekend kind of deal.
NOTE: Not a doodle bug.
Steam-XBox-PSN: Lobstermancer
That makes two of us my North American friend. I'm going to make the experiment and report back.
EDIT: I mean the geography part, I have nothing against Prozac or giant spiders.
Ski season is basically June through September, longer down south. Otago can get pretty hot and dry in the summer, but you won't see 40C
I've never found that much fun/touristy stuff to do in Auckland, although I assume there is some. Their museum is very good, though, if you're into that. I'd suggest at least a few days in Rotorua and surrounds, to visit the geothermal stuff, volcanoes and hot pools. That's about 2.5 hours drive from Auckland, and not far out of the way if you are going anywhere else.
Prozac's going to be a three hour flight away, so no worries time wise. It's the spider gathering that will be the real problem with that plan.
Even in central, it usually wraps up about mid-september. Depends a bit on the weather and snow, of course.
So long as you use the commonsense rules of overseas travel, you should be fine. NZ is a very safe country. It's probably worth staying out of South Auckland, but I can't really think why you'd go there anyway. Like MikeSands, I never found all that much to do in Auckland when I visited. Lots of boats, if you're into that kind of thing. Kelly Tarlton's underwater world could be worth a look if you have a hankering to see sharks, manta rays or penguins. Rotorua is a good suggestion. Lots of this kind of thing:
SpacePPoliceman wrote:
Steam
Yeah you could probably get daily flights over the pond. I'm on the Sunshine coast, and this is the beach two minutes drive from my house.
If you decided to come over for a day trip let me know, we can have an impromptu GWJ slap and tickle.
I hope you like riding to the pub on giant spiders...
NathanialG wrote:
Strewth wrote:
Then I guess I'm out of luck with the snow related jobs (or visiting a ski resort for that matter) until next season. Rotorua looks nice.
Prozac, that beach looks relaxing and peaceful, just how I like my beaches. Be sure I will be paying you a visit, I will just need to settle down a bit and earn some money for that kind of travels first.
I appreciate the help from everyone. You guys make traveling a great distance to a place with any familiar soul an ocean apart less worrying, to say the least
.
One more question and probably easier for the ones living in NZ. Do you know of a small scale Spanish school anywhere in the country where being a native speaker could be enough to teach? I guess I could take a job in a place like that, because Universities seem to accept only people who have actual degrees in the language (or so they told me
).
It's about a 3 hour flight from the east coast of Aus to NZ
Amoebic wrote:
steam | xbox | bgg
Steam: maxox
XBL: maxox555
WoW: Rogue/Lock/DK
Also, Prozac - enough will the showing off what's in the Sunshine Coast! I'd post an equally lovely New Zealand beach, if there were any.
Instead, I'll just go with: our only venomous spider was non lethal and I think is now extinct in the wild.*
*There are, however, illegal immigrant Aussie spiders in some regions now.
We're just trying to kill you off before you can get over here to despoil our lovely beaches
NathanialG wrote:
Strewth wrote:
Too late, I have already despoiled that very beach (I think so, anyhow - it's Mooloolaba, right?)
Certainly is
NathanialG wrote:
Strewth wrote:
I just had a chance to fool around with a globe and the flight from LA to Auckland is so long. According to my sketchy comparison of distances is roughly similar to flying in a straight line from NY to Tierra del Fuego in Argentina. Almost the entire America.
I have to admit that being that long above the ocean makes me feel a bit uneasy.