In 2015 I found out about this New Zealand working holiday visa which allows one to live and work in New Zealand for a year or two depending where you are from. Up to that point I didn't know much about New Zealand but I was truly fascinated by it when I attended an event where a girl shared her experiences from living in New Zealand for a year. The photos she showed were amazing and I was quite shocked I had not seen much photos of New Zealand before. That settled it and plans to go to New Zealand were in the works.
Arriving
I arrived in New Zealand beginning of 2017 in Auckland after solo backpacking Vietnam for couple of amazing weeks so I felt comfortable being alone so far away from home and was excited about what's ahead. I arrived in Auckland Airport and realized I have yet to book an accommodation so did just that before heading out - Base Hostel - cheapest hostel downtown Auckland I could find (No affiliation). Arriving in downtown Auckland I was so stoked, this city was huge, it was exciting, start of a new chapter in life. I had my fair share of travel around Europe and I have seen some big cities but this felt different somehow. The hostel was kind of meh and everything was ridiculously expensive so I had to lower my having good time expectations a little bit for a while and start looking for a job of some sorts.
Change Of Plans
Up to this point, my idea was to stay for 6 months in Auckland, 3 in Wellington and 3 in Queenstown while doing all the travel before leaving the country. Also I was overwhelmed with travel possibilities in New Zealand, there were a couple of bus companies doing the entire country with stops in all major tourist locations like Kiwi Experience and Stray. Lot of backpackers were buying a van and doing their travels that way. Also there were a lot of van rental companies like Jucy. I had no idea which route I wanted to take. I will probably write a separate post about practical tips and advice on backpacking New Zealand some time later, stay tuned for that.
After couple of weeks I ended up renting a room in Auckland CBD and was fully expecting to land a decent job but soon I found out that my visa prohibits me to work for one employer for more than 3 months and that was a problem considering what kind of job I needed to be able to live downtown and save money at the same time. So I started looking for backpacker jobs in rural areas of New Zealand and I got a kiwi fruit picking job in Pauanui.
Pro Kiwifruit Picker
Many such jobs were available at the time and it was a bit difficult to choose which one to roll with, I received responses from few I applied to. Nonetheless it was a right choice in a way as I met a lot of cool people there and I ended up sticking with couple of them after finishing the kiwi fruit picking season and spent my entire time in New Zealand (year and a half) with those people.
Going to Pauanui to do fruit picking wasn't the best choice financially though. I barely saved any money there despite sticking with the job for 3 months. Weather was not in favor of picking most of the time so we got only 2 weeks of solid work and the other times we were scrambling to get any work. Basically we were working barely for 3 months, it was fun though.
I met some interesting characters while working there, explored the rural New Zealand, learned to play a guitar, went to hot water beaches and overall had a blast staying in our backpacker house with other travellers. Some weird moments I have to highlight - someone stole someones chicken in our house and we just couldn't figure out who was at fault, also our crazy neighbors involved us and the police in their domicile conflict (both were crackheads).
Road Trip
After three months of mucking around it was time to leave. Me and my friends decided to head to Wellington and see some things along the way. This kiwi dude who was working with us the entire time didn't know what to do after finishing picking season so he joined us on the trip. He had a crappy little car all rusty and full of trash. Somehow it fit him and 3 tall guys and didn't break on the trip.
Some major stops we took were Rotorua and Taupo. Taupo was our base for a few days since there was so much to see and do. One of the best moments was finding this little hot pool and relaxing in it at night when no one was around. The water was so perfect. This was an ideal event to combine with some drinks and candle light. Too bad we didn't have any girls there :D.
Another major reason we stayed in Taupo was because it was close to Tongariro Alpine Crossing which is one of the best hikes I have ever done to this day. The nature was spectacular, scenery changing every hour. It felt like being on some alien planet. This was a full day hike with high elevation gain so I was surprised to see my friends crushing it, the amount of alcohol they consumed in Pauanui was astonishing.
City Life
Next came few months in Wellington, one of my favorite cities in the world. A lot of hills in the city, great waterfront, awesome nightlife and culture. I stayed the entire time in a hostel downtown, room was super cheap and it was walking distance from everything. I had my friends there and I became friends with some other travelers.
Staying here was rather uneventful though. Life like in any other city, For work I signed up at Hays which was a company offering short term jobs in the city. It wasn't the most stable option out there but it was good enough. At one point though I almost got this great job at a tech company which would have allowed me to stay much longer in Wellington.
Instead I was doing a lot of random work assignments like construction work, I was a mover, a concrete expert, doing earthquake damage repairs etc. A lot of other backpackers were doing this as it allowed us to survive winter in the city.
Mountain Man
Next phase in my New Zealand journey led me to Mt Cook National Park where I spent 8 months. I got a job at Hermitage Hotel located in a village there. It was a major tourist location in New Zealand and one of the most beautiful areas in the world.
I got a cheap accommodation and free food basically as much as I wanted. The village was small, so there was no transportation necessary, we had just one bar so there were practically no expenses. During summer with all the seasonal workers we were about 300 people from all over the world.
I loved my time in this little place. I met so many amazing people, we were like a little family. There was so much hiking in the area, amazing lakes, mountains and glaciers. Every other day off I had I went on a hike. The darkness during winter time allowed me to explore astrophotography and seeing stars, the Milky Way and two of the next closest galaxies with a naked eye was something else. This was also a perfect location to explore south island as it was centrally located.
I have to highlight Isthmus Peak trek in Wanaka, which is also an awesome little town, Queenstown and Kepler trek. The overall nature of south island was incredible and doing road trips here was unforgettable.
I Want Back
I really miss New Zealand now. Near the end I definitely started taking it for granted. If you go there then make sure to cherish every moment. In a way I regret leaving and not staying permanently but I was so eager to travel and I had to start planning for Canada where I am headed next. My year and a half in New Zealand feels like half of my life for some reason and weirdly the time didn't pass quickly. I was always surrounded by amazing people and I barely worked so I guess that can be attributed to time slowing down a little.