Comments on Journey Through the South Pacific
Firstable
Queenstown on the south island is great. Lots of outdoor activities, backpacker accomodations, etc.
Isn't the snowboarding/skiing season the opposite of here? Maybe that's happening...
#3: He's going to be there in the summer there, winter here. Also, skiing costs money he doesn't have.
When there for several months five years ago I found Let's Go NZ and NZ Lonely Planet pretty helpful actually. Your friend is probably on the south island, right? If so I hope your friend likes backpacking because the south island is amazing for that. Many national parks down there, and huts scattered around the backcountry so you can actually cook up some dinner and get some decent sleep.
Not TOO far from Christchurch, the Nelson Lakes, Arthur's Pass, Mt Cook, and Lake Wanaka areas are all lovely.
Excellent sea-kayaking/backpacking opportunity on the Abel Tasman coast on the NW corner of the south island.
Pretty affordable and lovely glacier walking on the west coast Fox and Franz Joseph glaciers.
#2 Queenstown is nicely located but it is about the most touristy town on the island.
He should walk the Lord of the Rings trail to Mordor and hike Mount Doom.
Also, re: cost. While my impressions are a few years outdated now, hitchhiking is more mainstream in NZ and there are lots & lots of hostels, many of which will let you pitch a tent in the backyard and use the hostel common areas for pretty cheap.
It depends on where he's staying; New Zealand is bigger than it looks. For the North Island: hiking the Tongariro Crossing was one the most amazing experiences of my life, and hands-down the most amazing hike I'm likely to ever take.
New Zealand is great about having youth hostels; we spent three weeks slumming hostel-to-hostel across the North Island and found them friendly, safe, and usually mostly clean. They range from hole-in-the-wall-chic to boot-camp-decor to frat-house-away-from-home, but we didn't have any trouble researching them and figuring out which ones we wanted to use. They're not strictly for students; if you're under 30 and international, nobody looks at you funny.
In a word: Hike. Hike hike hike. Best hiking in the world. My husband loves hiking, and I hate it; the one time I've enjoyed it was in New Zealand, because the whole country is so motherloving gorgeous.
@6 I'm a bit ashamed to admit this, but Hobbiton is the only thing in New Zealand I'm interested in.
Wow, New Zealand looks a lot like Washington State.
I would think hiking would be rad, because if I remember correctly, NZ is the only place in the world with a native animal ecosystem composed entirely of BIRDS.
Sadly, that's not the case now... but he could still hike around and take pictures of the avian life!
Milford Sound (http://www3.nationalgeographic.com/places/gallery/newzealand_milford-sound.html) is amazing. Close to three tracks if he chooses to hike. Outside of a pub or two, a campground, and a hostel (~$13/night), I'm not sure on the nightlife (probably none), but you don't go to NZ to party. You can catch transport there from Queenstown.
He should go hang out with Frodo and Bilbo Baggins. I bet they are a kick to party with.
The Pharmacy 2007 antarctic tour!
Though they're not all so inexpensive, my favorite things while in NZ were: the Canyon Swing (www.canyonswing.co.nz), climbing the Franz Josef Glacier (www.franzjosefglacier.com) and swimming with the dolphins (www.dolphin.co.nz/kaikoura/).
Went there for a month last april. my advice rent a campervan and get the fuck out of the cities. NZ beauty is that it is still relatively wild in places. nativeparks.co.nz is totally awesome and their book was one of the best resources available for freedom camping (roadside free camping). Avoid Queenstown like the plague unless you are into seriously fucked up tourist hell. Zorbing (zorb.com) is one of the most fun things I have ever done. Milford Sound is over trafficed, Doubtful Sound is much better. North Island is pretty in the pastoral sense. South Island in pretty in the OMG shit you pants sense. I got a lot of great advice before my trip from the tripadvisor.com message board.
NZ IS very similar to WA! At least is the sense that we both have awesome mountains, huge ferns, great wine, and some spectacular coastal waters.
A friend of mine really enjoyed this: http://shotoverjet.com/ . Of course, he's also a gun collector.
Insert LOTR joke here.
I toured New Zealand. OK, first rule is: North Island has people. South Island has sheep.
Yes, I know, when you get to the North Island, you'll see more sheep than you thought could exist.
Trust me, you will see more.
So: short list.
Rotorua and native stuff plus glow worm caves ... cool.
Auckland ... great party place.
Vinyards, mostly overrated.
Islands: um, if it's summer here it's winter there. Maybe.
Take the train. Live like the locals. Go to pubs and go out dancing at raves. Drop in on music stores.
Oh, and the museums ... now those were cool too. Seriously.
And don't worry, everyone IS friendly. It's how they are. No worries.
oh, and I agree with @7.
When I was in NZ for three months in 2001, the best guidebook was the Rough Guide.
Regarding cheapness: You can camp all over for free. Just not where there are signs forbidding it (and it's good to ask permission if you're on someone's property).
Oh god now I want to go there. How the hell did he land that job?!!! AWESOME.
He could check out Couchsurfing.com if he's on the no-money kind of budget. I never used it myself, but it worked out for a couple of people I knew in China.
I hear that Castle Hill (S. Island west of Christchurch) has some pretty phenomenal bouldering, if your friend is into that sort of thing. Hard to find a more broke-ass dirtbag-y pastime than that!
The over-under for Lord of the Rings comments on this post was 6. I took the over and we're only at 4 or 5 by my count. C'mon sloggers, don't let me down!
i JUST saw a show on either Nat Geo Channel, or the Science Channel today about the South Pole station and was wondering how on earth one gets a job there, then this! funny how that happens.
This place was my favorite when I lived in NZ http://www.onukufarm.co.nz/. Lots of people coming back from So. Pole stay at Onuku.
Why on earth would someone need a few weeks of training to wash dishes?
Surprised no-one has mentioned Wellington - the best city for a traveler in NZ by a long shot. The national museum is there which is well worth an afternoon or longer (plus it's free). It's also got a great vibrant food/music/art culture thing going on, and has been the hot bed of kiwi music over the last few years (Fat Freddy's Drop, the Black Seeds and Flight of the Conchords to name a few). Plus it's compact and easy to get around on foot.
He's bound to be leaving from Christchurch, my home town, so for cheap thrills before hitting the ice he could catch a metro bus out to the beach at Sumner to swim, get a coffee or watch the surfing. From there it's a short hitchhike over to Taylor's Mistake which is a fantastic little beach. If he has access to a car, on the way to Taylor's, the old army gunneries at Godley Head are really great. In Christchurch, High Street should be where he goes to shop/drink coffee/people watch. High Street, not 'the strip' which should be avoided like the plague. The art gallery in CHCH is pretty great, as is Art's Center Market on the weekend.
For entertainment hints tell him to tune into RDU 98.5, the University of Canterbury's radio station. They have a gig guide twice a day and that'll be his best bet to find out things to do entertainment wise.
@28
Why the hell would anybody go to NZ to hangout in a city? Wellington is fine but it is hardly a destination. The museum is nice but hardly worth it if you are only there for a short period of time.
@19
I found there to be more of the farm stuff in the NI and more wilderness in the SI. I would say more people/culture in the NI more green and wild in the SI.
#27: Antartica is like the moon. You can't even go outside without special equipment. You have to get trained on how the research station works and other protocol type stuff.
@29 - The urban culture in NZ has it's own special flavour - I'd dare say, comparing NZ and Washington, the cities are more different than the wilderness.
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