On New Zealand's South Island is the adventure capital of the world (so says Tourism New Zealand and I don't think this claim is too far fetched).

It's Queenstown!

If the clean mountain air doesn't take your breath away, the skiing, snowboarding, whitewater rafting, skydiving, hang gliding, jetskiing or bungy jumping sure will.

Parts of the Lord of The Rings movie trilogy were filmed around Queenstown, and Queenstown was the base for filming the George Lucas 1988 fantasy film Willow (I'm feeling my age now!). So well, yeah. It's a pretty place.

And the zig-zagging Remarkable Mountains around it as are impressive as the practically four-star (heated!) caravan park bathrooms.
Queenstown might very well be the campervan utopia, but as adventure capital by day it also is a youthful party town by night and Brits often pick up work behind a bar or if they have outdoor activity experience.

It's a bit tricky to get into Queensland, there is no rail for example but it is accessible by road and air, but it is a great location to base yourself to explore the Fiordland National Park and the rest of the Southern Lakes region.

My advice is a campervan, that way you have your own transport and a nature-inspired drive into Queenstown combined with a place to rest your head.

But there are plenty of backpackers and hostels in town if you'd rather skip the driving.  

©Visa Bureau 2003-2010

Visa Bureau takes no responsibility and cannot be held accountable for action taken as a result of any information or comment provided on this blog, and we recommend that you always seek a number of opinions before making a decision regarding your migration or visa application. Please refer to the Visa Bureau terms of use for more information.

One blog entry for the month of September will win these prizes!

Three days campervan hire

Explore New Zealand with three days campervan hire from Escape Rentals! Escape Campers is not your average motor home hire company, because each of their campers are uniquely painted and fully fitted out with everything you need.
Visit: www.escaperentals.co.nz

Three nights’ accommodation at BASE

Chill out with three nights’ accommodation to be redeemed at any BASE hostel located in the North Island. Choose between BASE Auckland, BASE Rotorua, BASE Bay of Islands, BASE Taupo, or BASE Wellington. BASE Backpacker Hostels are a revolution in beds, bars and entertainment.

BASE hostels are located throughout Australia and New Zealand and are specially designed for you, the modern day global travellers, with state of the art facilities, superior comfort and friendly services all at an affordable price. What are you waiting for? Visit: www.stayatbase.com.

See how to enter and send us in your blog entry.

©Visa Bureau 2003-2010

Visa Bureau takes no responsibility and cannot be held accountable for action taken as a result of any information or comment provided on this blog, and we recommend that you always seek a number of opinions before making a decision regarding your migration or visa application. Please refer to the Visa Bureau terms of use for more information.

Before the arrival of Europeans the Maori people used to call the North Island as Te Ika a Māui (the fish of Māui) and the South Island as Te Wai Pounamu (the waters of greenstone) or Te Waka o Aoraki (the canoe of Aoraki).

Until the early 20th century, the North Island was also referred to as Aotearoa (colloquially translated "land of the long white cloud") and nowadays this name refers to the whole country.

There are a few quite common Maori words that are used in regular conversations in New Zealand. For example, kia ora (Maori greating, hello), hangi (underground barbecue feast done with hot stones), Haka (war dance), and hongi (pressing noses together as a greeting).

There is also a very distinct New Zealand slang to get your head around. Try these for starters.

Bach: small holiday home, pronounced "batch"
Bun-fight: social gathering with food
Capsicum: pepper
Chilly bin: sealable cold box for beer, picnics etc
Choice: excellent, fabulous. As in "this blog is really choice"
Chuddy: chewing gum
Full tit: going very fast, as in "he was running full tit"
Gummies: wellingtons
Hokey pokey: type of ice cream with butterscotch bits
Jandal: thongs, flip flops
Judder bar: speed bump
Kumara: sweet potato
Lay-by: Where you can put goods aside in a shop, to pay them off slowly
Pack a sad: become moody, also meaning broken or died
Rellies: family, relatives
Somewhere near Taupo: like "just round the corner" it's a vague term
Tiki tour: scenic tour, the long route

©Visa Bureau 2003-2010

Visa Bureau takes no responsibility and cannot be held accountable for action taken as a result of any information or comment provided on this blog, and we recommend that you always seek a number of opinions before making a decision regarding your migration or visa application. Please refer to the Visa Bureau terms of use for more information.

When I lived in Taupo on the North Island, our next door neighbours were a friendly and generous Maori family.

My Dad was a keen fisherman, and when he had caught more than we could eat we would barbecue the fish outside and invite the neighbours over for dinner.   

They were family that were proud of their heritage and had the traditional Maori tattoos; the Mum on her lips and chin, and the Dad on his cheeks.
The Dad also loved to scoop out the fish eyes and chew them thoughtfully, which made me both shudder and laugh. And then he would laugh at me.

The distinctive Maori tattoos have become increasingly popular with the average person; although most tattoo artists in the normal studio don't practice Ta Moko. Kirituhi, meaning skin art, is the new term being used to describe Maori-style tattoos. 

The traditional method of applying Ta Moko was with an albatross bone and natural dyes from dried and powdered caterpillars or a specially prepared tree resin.

The bone blade was dipped in the pigment and then tapped with a mallet to chisel deep incisions into the skin.

hmm, ouch.

But it was also accompanied by many rites and rituals, indicating a step from puberty into adulthood.

Some tattoo artists are reviving the traditional Ta Moko methods, but most tattoos are created using an electric machine and so the skin remains smooth. 

Ta Moko is a national and sacred treasure of the Maori people, a history of a person's achievements and a representation of their status in the tribe. Ta Moko is also a reminder about a man or woman's responsibility in life, and is a huge honour to wear.

It is applied on men to the face and buttocks, and on women to the chin, lips and shoulders and sometimes on their face depending on their ranking.

There are no set patterns to Ta Moko, although the left side of the face related to the father's history and the right to the mother's history.

I've always thought it was a beautiful expression of belonging and history.

Eating fish eyes though? Yeeeck!

©Visa Bureau 2003-2010

Visa Bureau takes no responsibility and cannot be held accountable for action taken as a result of any information or comment provided on this blog, and we recommend that you always seek a number of opinions before making a decision regarding your migration or visa application. Please refer to the Visa Bureau terms of use for more information.

I lived in New Zealand for two years on the North Island, although we did hire a campervan and travelled around both islands for a bit.

One of my favourite things about New Zealand are the beautiful Paua shells, and digging in the backyard we literally found hundreds and hundreds of them just below the surface of the soil. I was told that that area in the past would have been a feasting ground, where the Maori people would harvest the Paua (these are big abalones!) from the sea, cook them and have a giant feast together.

The Paua shell is beautiful on the inside, all purple and blue iridescence, but craggy and rough on the outside unless it is cleaned. And they grow up to 18cm!

Sometimes it's hard to believe that the abalones, basically just a large muscular foot or tongue, can just hang on to rocks in the surf.

 

©Visa Bureau 2003-2010

Visa Bureau takes no responsibility and cannot be held accountable for action taken as a result of any information or comment provided on this blog, and we recommend that you always seek a number of opinions before making a decision regarding your migration or visa application. Please refer to the Visa Bureau terms of use for more information.

I admit, it is a corny start to what we hope will become the world’s best New Zealand working holiday blog.

Do you think you can do better? I certainly hope so, and that pretty soon this blog will be full with amazing photos, stories of adventure and exploration, and lots more.

Perhaps a video of your first bungee jump in Queenstown? Or maybe your trick for packing your shirts in your backpack so that you have something to wear out at night that doesn’t look like a crumpet? 

Whatever you want to blog about while on your New Zealand gap year, make it creative, fun, interesting, or informative.

Best of all, send us your blog entries and connect with a whole bunch of travellers in the same situation as you all while having the chance to win awesome prizes each month.

Every month, starting August 1, every published blog entry has the chance to win a great prize (something you will want to write home about!).   The prize for the winning entry in August will soon be revealed, so watch this space.

Don’t forget to take a look out the Best Blog in the World terms and conditions, just so it’s all good.

And start your blogs!

©Visa Bureau 2003-2010

Visa Bureau takes no responsibility and cannot be held accountable for action taken as a result of any information or comment provided on this blog, and we recommend that you always seek a number of opinions before making a decision regarding your migration or visa application. Please refer to the Visa Bureau terms of use for more information.