Attention, attention!! Read all about it!
I’ve been hinting here and there and making sly remarks for over six months now, but I haven’t written anything serious online (long-term commitment issues here people). But the cat’s out of the bag; I’ve been harboring a big fat secret and I can’t keep it in any longer…
I’M MOVING TO NEW ZEALAND!!!
All-caps title, excessive exclamation points, referring to myself in the third person, I don’t care. I am so, so SO excited to finally share my big news with you all! Where do I even begin?
When Spain pretty much deported me last fall, I thought my heart would never heal. Gone were the days of sunny siestas in the local park, red wine with lunch in the teacher’s lounge and quick weekend adventures around Europe. No more preschool students giving me wet cheek kisses and infecting me with the plague. No more coffees out on the local cafe terraces between classes. No more Spanish cured meat.
I was devastated.
Leaving Spain broke my heart. Moving back in with my parents nearly killed me. Ok, I’m a drama queen, forgive me. Life could be so much worse, I get it.
After moping around for a few days, I gave myself a little pep talk. Ok, I called all my friends and begged them to give me pep talks. I applied for a bunch of jobs I wasn’t qualified for, and shockingly was hired a week later. Who said the economy sucks?
I exchanged my skinny red euro pants for khaki slacks and cardigans. I familiarized myself with driving again. I downloaded the Starbucks App on my new iPhone (first time in 2 years could sign a phone contract!) This was an opportunity, Liz (I told myself every night). This is your chance to make something of yourself. This is your chance to start over, get some savings, pay your bills on time, and build your blog. Then you can try something new.
The only way I would ever move on from my break-up with Spain was if I looked at it like an opportunity. An opportunity to try something new and different. I had called Spain home on and off for over three years. I was only 24. Time for a change.
New Zealand.
Why New Zealand?
New Zealand has been calling to me for exactly ten years. The origins of my curiosity for New Zealand aren’t exactly glamorous; in fact, they are kind of embarrassing to admit publicly. Deep breath. Honesty policy. Here we go.
Like so many other great nerds before me, my interest in New Zealand began with the Lord of the Rings.
If my mother only knew the chaos she would inflict in my fourteen year old mind by buying me the special extended edition of the Fellowship of the Ring for Christmas circa 2002, she would undoubtedly have thrown it out the window instead.
While other girls dreamed of homecoming dresses and summer crushes, I dreamed about wizards, hobbits and the Shire. While sketching and doodling, I would sit through hours and hours of bonus footage and all the making-of featurettes on those Special-For-Tolkien-Dorks-Edition DVDs and watch how Peter Jackson brought the Lord of the Rings to life in New Zealand. One day, I would go there, I promised myself.
But I put it off. Europe was always closer, much easier (and cheaper) to get to, where New Zealand seemed like a world away. Next year I would go, I would tell myself. Once I heard about the special working holiday visas for Americans there, I decided one day I would do that. By this point I had built up the image of New Zealand in my mind so much that I convinced myself that I needed at least a year to do it justice. There was so much I wanted to do and see there was no way I could get it all done on a quick two week trip.
For me, New Zealand has always been my number one destination to go to; it was so special and meant so much to me, I couldn’t even talk about it on here because I didn’t want to get my hopes dashed if it didn’t work out – a small glimpse into how my distorted mind works. Have you ever felt that way about a place?
When I unexpectedly came home in October, I realized my chance had finally come.
Except my bank account was in the double digits and I had crippling student loans I needed to get under control first. Selling my soul to corporate America for 8 months was a small price to pay to help make my dreams come true, right? A month ago I gave my resignation and I haven’t looked back since.
Now as much as New Zealand IS Middle Earth to me, that is sure as hell not the only reason I’m going. The more and more I immerse myself in the travel industry and this weird world of travel blogging, the more I have come to realize that New Zealand is a Mecca destination among seasoned travelers. I have not met a single soul who has had one bad thing to say about New Zealand. At all. In fact, most people rave about it. Secondly, I’ve met a lot of people from New Zealand during my travels around the world, and let me just say, they’ve all been super friendly and real wonderful people. All of them. To me, that speaks volumes about a country.
I also need a change of scenery. And holy hell does New Zealand have amazing scenery or what?!
I love Europe more than anything; in fact, I will be back on a plane to Europe in a week for 2 months of backpacking around and saying goodbye to my favorite haunts (details next week), but fundamentally I need a change. Deep inside me I have an urge to see a whole other side of the world I haven’t explored before. I need to prove to myself that I will be ok living somewhere different, that I can try something out of my comfort zone. Once I’m in New Zealand, I will hopefully be able to explore some new places, like Australia, Fiji, or hell, even Antarctica is close by (cough, cough any adventure travel PR people out there?)
But above all, I want to get to know New Zealand really well. I want to give her the attention she deserves (the feminist in me is making NZ a lady). I want to take my time, make good friends, take it easy, and relax. I don’t want to be rushed.
The specifics
Being the total weirdo that I am, I didn’t want to say anything on here to jinx my chances before I knew everything would work out.
Two weeks ago I applied for the visa online, and three days later it was approved. I was in shock. The visa process from Spain STILL haunts me it was so long and torturous; I can’t believe how easy and accessible this application was. For example, I had a specific question about the application, and I called up the embassy here in Washington D.C. and got it solved in less than two minutes! Holy crap! Compared with the Spanish consulate which I am convinced does not have phones installed, I was in shock. I am choosing to believe it is a sign of good things to come and that I am making the right choice of destination.
This morning I bought a one-way flight to New Zealand, leaving on August 9! It took me about 3 hours to summon the urge to click “buy” and I sure as hell don’t want to look at my credit card statement anytime soon, yikes! But what baffles me the most is that I leave on a Friday and arrive on a Sunday. If that won’t give me jetlag, I don’t know what will.
All I know is that I am equally terrified and excited.
And now for the biggest step of them all: this afternoon I am taking my car into Carmax to sell. Sweet Jesus, that was hard to write.
My beautiful baby yellow Jeep. Nine amazing years we’ve been together, and I never thought this day would come. I’ve loved you through thick and thin. Even when you broke repeatedly and cost me a fortune to fix. Every time I’ve moved overseas, I have had the lifeline of my car waiting for me at home, knowing that I could always come back and start working somewhere since I had transportation.
But the time has come. I want to buy a car in New Zealand because I really want to be able to go wherever I want without worry. (Can we just talk about how I am going to have to learn to drive on the other side of the road? Get prepared for some hilarious videos coming soon!) Selling my car here will enable me to buy a used car down in New Zealand. But man, let me just say, cutting the last string that ties me to my old life back in the US is really hard. I hate myself for how much I love my car. Let’s just hope I can keep it together and not start crying in Carmax.
And don’t even get me started on saying goodbye to my family yet. Can’t even think about that right now.
The plan
Ok, so, I don’t really have a plan. I have a one-way ticket and a hope and a dream, what more do I need?
I intentionally don’t want to overthink this decision for several reasons. One: I am prone to nervous breakdowns and panic attacks which I really don’t need right now. Two: I’m trying to be more open-minded and go-with-the-flow here, and I don’t want to plan out every last detail before I even arrive. Three: I want to hear what YOU ALL have got to say about it.
Here’s what I do know. I have heard amazing things about the South Island, so I bought my flight into Christchurch, the biggest city down there.
New Zealand is really popular with backpackers, but that is really not my thing anymore. I do not envision this as a year of me bumming around from city to city in New Zealand, living out of hostels or buying a campervan, or heaven forbid, woofing (sorry everyone!) I want to base myself somewhere and really get to know the area. By being in one place with a car, then I am hoping to plan trips around the country. Ideally, I would like to sign a lease for a year when I arrive. But where to go?
Since the South Island has been calling to me, and I’ve been “researching,” and by researching I mean searching “Beautiful places South Island New Zealand” on Pinterest, the one place that keeps cropping up again and again is Queenstown. Holy crap, that place looks pretty damn magical.
The only problem is that I think everyone feels the same way. If I settle in Queenstown, will I be able to make friends with locals and really get to know the area? Or will I be surrounded by a bunch of backpackers, tourists and ski-bums? After living abroad for years, I’ve found that for me, it’s really important to integrate where I move, and get to know the area, both for my own sanity and out of respect for the country too. Do you think if I go to Queenstown I will be able to find my own niche and group of friends of locals?
Because, well, I don’t know a single person in New Zealand. Yikes!
Also I am not a big city girl; what calls to me about New Zealand is the epic, untouched landscape, so I really see myself in a smaller town and not a bigger city, that’s why the views in Queenstown are so appealing to me. I am hoping to find a roomy enough place so that guests are welcome (unless you’re one of my 4 internet stalkers, then I’m busy and I actually moved to Peru instead).
So my tentative plan was fly into Christchurch and look to buy a car there, then find a place to live for a year. Help!
Here’s where you come in
I need your help! Have you ever been to New Zealand? Are you from there? Have an opinion?
No matter what I need some advice. Poll in, let me know what you’re thinking. Leave a comment. Tell me I’m crazy (please don’t actually) or tell me a city so I don’t have to chose. I’m looking for any tips, ideas, suggestions or even just “you go girl” comments because I need all the help and positive reinforcement I can get right now. EEEEP!
I’m about to embark on one of the biggest adventures of my life and I don’t know whether to laugh or cry. Let’s go with laugh. New Zealand, I’m coming for you!
Have you ever moved abroad? Ever been to New Zealand? Would you like to live in a different country one day?
**Update: I changed my flight to NZ to August 20 to give me a little more time to recover from Europe and catch up on work**
About the author
I just found this post whilst trawling the internet for tips on moving to England, but I couldn’t resist commenting on this – I’m from New Zealand, and you will completely fall in love with this place. It has its share of dull towns and so on, but honestly, even the smallest village or biggest city is right there next to truly stunning scenery. There are about a million comments on this post, but in case nobody’s suggested it yet, Dunedin is an amazing place – it’s NZ’s student capital, and a fabulous base to see all of Central Otago and the Alps and so on. Truly beautiful, dramatic countryside. And everyone in NZ is lovely and friendly and you’ll have an amazing time if you’re not here already ! I wish you the best of luck 🙂
I really want to check out Dunedin! Can’t wait to get to the south island 😀
You could check out this organisation called Aiesec
It’s basically a student organisation like Rotary club and helps cross-country exchange and internships in whatever field you likes. Paid internships that it. Also a great platform to meet new friends! Hope that helps 🙂
P.s. my inner Tolkein nerd is muy jealous but it’s a great place to live. Very friendly, sport and family oriented (Source: lots of friends from there). And yes, you will find tons of European tourists and backpackers there
Thanks for the tip 😀
Hi Liz
I’ve just found your blog. Awesome that you’re coming to NZ! You’ve had some great comments and tips about coming here but thought I’d add my own 🙂
The North and South Islands are both fantastic in their own ways. You mentioned that you were flying in to Christchurch- I wouldn’t recommend staying there as there is a huge housing shortage since the big earthquakes there. Some places of Christchurch look fine, but others areas are quite shocking to see. If I were you, I would head down South first (if you don’t mind the cold). Queenstown is fantastic but beware- it is very touristy and probably the most expensive place in NZ (along with Auckland). Queenstown is mostly known for its outdoor recreation: ski parks, lakes, Shotover river, the gondola, bungy, walking tracks etc. Make sure you check out Arrowtown near Queenstown which is a quaint shantytown-like village and Glenorchy where you can get some beautiful scenic photographs. Wanaka is similar to Queenstown but not as touristy.
If you like the outdoors then there is also the Milford Sound and the Frans Josef glaciers to visit. There’s not much to do on the West Coast but is well worth the drive up- think forests of mossy trees and rugged beaches. If you want to relax in hot pools- check out Hamner Springs (or Rotorua in the North Island- but it badly smells of sulphur when you first arrive there) which you can easily do on your way to Nelson. I grew up in Nelson which is one of the sunniest parts of the country. It is not overly exciting here, so if you want museums and clubs and shopping then go to Wellington. What Nelson does have to offer is an artsy hippy culture, beaches and the Abel Tasman National park- a must see if you enjoy tramping. A bit out of Nelson is the arty beach village of Mapua- good for getting fish and chips and checking out the shops by the wharf. Another 40min away is Kaiteriteri which is only worth visiting in Summer as everything closes in Winter but has our famous golden sands. Even more hippyish than Nelson is Golden Bay (couple hours from Nelson) which while according to some people has absolutely nothing to do there, it has beautiful people and beautiful scenery and is a favourite summer retreat for many Nelsonians.
While the South Island has a distinctly more rural and natural feel to it, you’ll get your cultural fix in the North Island. While I haven’t travelled the North Island extensively, I did live in Wellington which is one of the best cities I’ve been to (I’m not a city girl). Further up the country is the Wairarapa region which is known for its sunshine (which Wellington is not!) and its wineries. Northland is apparently one of the best places to visit, I haven’t been there myself but hubby and I are travelling there in September because I have heard so many good things about it. Northland is dubbed the “Winterless North” and boasts places like the Bay of Islands which someone told me is like “New Zealand’s version of Rarotonga”. Apparently the things to see there are Ninety Mile beach, Waipoua Forest (biggest Kauri trees), Paihia, and Russell which was once the capital of NZ.
Places not to go:
– While it may be worth a trip to the furtherest southern point of NZ (Bluff) just for the oysters, I wouldn’t stay in the South for terribly long as the weather (most famously in Invercargill) is awful and there isn’t much to do.
– Wanganui: is also a nice place to visit, but full of Mongrel Mob (gang) members. However if this is your forte then I recommend South Auckland- you have a whole assortment of gangs there
– Auckland: has its good points- but you don’t really visit NZ for the cities. There’s much nicer places to go.
– If you travel up the North Island from Wellington you will go through either Lower Hutt or Porirua- both have some very nice areas but also have a high percentage of gang members. While the beach suburbs in both areas are nice to visit, I wouldn’t recommend stopping anyway else if you don’t know the area (DO NOT EVER GET OUT OF YOUR CAR IN PORIRUA EAST OR TAITA/POMARE AREA IN LOWER HUTT)
Other tips:
– I think someone above mentioned Trade Me. This is our ebay and Craigslist mashed into one. If you want a job or a car or a house to rent then visit Trade Me
– A lot of smaller businesses don’t accept credit cards so make sure you take plenty of cash and get a bank account with an eftpos card as soon as you can as this is the most popular form of money
– Transport isn’t very good once you get out of the cities, so good idea to get a car if you want to travel. Be careful though, NZ has some of the worst roads in the world
– DO NOT drive on Ninety Mile Beach (Northland). Cars are generally not insured along that road (which can barely call itself a road) and I have heard from lots of people who couldn’t find their way off the beach “road” or took a wrong exit onto private property where the owners charge hefty tolls for you to access the inland road via their property.
– Personal theft is not big like in Spain, but car theft is. While many places are pretty safe and locals leave their houses and cars unlocked, there are many seemingly safe areas that are actually quite dodgy.
– Brush up on your Te Reo (Maori language) pronunciation. While Maori isn’t really spoken here, people (especially in the North Island, not really in the South) get hugely offended if you pronounce things incorrectly. Although people will be understanding that you are not from NZ, Maori will appreciate to see you trying to learn their culture. If you can speak Spanish you’re on the right track- the vowel sounds are very similar and same with the “r” sound. eg:
A = “ah”
E = “eh”
I = “ee”
O = “aw”
U = “ooh”
Good luck! I hope you enjoy New Zealand and if you stop if Nelson flick me an email and I can show you around 🙂
Best comment ever thank you sooooo much!
I actually considered doing exactly this before deciding to go to Spain as an Auxiliar! Hopefully I’ll still be able to do it someday just like you have. Hope you have a great time, I look forward to seeing your posts from New Zealand!
Come here after Spain, it’s sooooo much easier haha