You never know if you would be stopped by police AND ask for your driving license (that would be very rare occasion and chances, NZ Police roadblocks are hard to be seen except for checking up the boy racers aka mat rempit and drunk driving especially in weekend's nights ). However, I did stopped by a policeman in daytime and ask for the license. The reason I was stopped was driving 80-90 km/h on the narrow sloppy mountain road and yet the traffic was starting to build up at my tail (couldn't find slow vehicle bay at the time ). The policeman was very polite and let me off once he satistified after checking my documents.

Anyway, it is still very easy to have the driving license translated in NZ as some of the chines daily's office soffer this service (including Msia license) at a cost.

heehhe..agree no more. I live at Christchurch..life was really2 great..the environment, the neighbours, the community.. we become more closer after the EQ struck Christchurch. Scared..of course but life must go on.Eventhough the city was ruined but it still in my heart. Opps..the police used to stop our car because of our WOF was expired!! Lucky the officer was very kind, satisfied with the document and remind us to do the WOF.. remind me about our Malaysia police officer..totally different..

Unlucky on getting stopped. My friend once got a ticket for "following" too close to another driver's car when he first went there. Haha. Shocked seeing the ticket.

The problem I've seen with tourist drivers driving in NZ (Actually I also drive like that at first). Sometimes they are just too slow even if the speed limit is 80km/h. In NZ, everyone is very particular with the speed limit, if there's an 80 sign, drive 80; if there's a 50 sign, drive 50. I've seen a few times where tourists are stopped as they were driving too slow. The usual way, when there's no slow bay available, just put up your signal and let the others pass.

Talking about the translation. Actually, there are offices that are set up in helping the tourists & those that want to work/stay/study there to translate their documents. Here's a list of translators that you can find over there -> Document Translators

This post has been edited by digitalz: Nov 18 2011, 09:55 AM

Dude,

Thanks for yrs wise advise and infor. Hope my kids have chance to further study in NZ, then we can plan more trip on this.

Hi,

I am looking to sell New ZEaland Currency. Do PM me for further details as I will be returning to Malaysia in December.

I will accept reasonable offers for wanted amounts.

Offers have to be competitive with the current market money exchange rate.

Thx.

Ahh. Good choice. Though I'd like to point out that the NZ education fees are going up again. Higher and higher they go. Bad for all that want to study there.

Yup, For pre-U education, unless you have PRship you pay a fortune for international student rate yearly ie ~10k Nz dollar. However, for graduate studies, you just pay as little as locals do.

@@" There's something wrong with the above statement. Unless you've got PR or citizenship, it will not be cheap, for graduate studies, at least NZD$20k (depending on course) is needed each year and this is only for the tuition fees & not other expenses. The prices just went up again this year.

This post has been edited by digitalz: Nov 22 2011, 10:31 AM

Even for PR, you have to be living in NZ for dunno how many years if not mistaken.

My parents has been bugging me a lot since last time to study there because I already have my PR. But since they migrated over a year ago, they found out that you can't exactly pay local fees for uni even if you're a PR. Unless you have been living there for some time, like my brother who is taking Year 10 currently, his uni fees will be much less compared to me finishing form 5 here and go over there to get a degree.

Sorry, I was meant to say you pay the local rate for Postgraduate studies except for few disciplines eg MBA etc. and not undergraduate studies as for international student. My apologies for the confusion and mistake.

This post has been edited by cheeho04: Nov 22 2011, 08:28 PM

Hey guys! so I think this post is belong to here..since I don't want to open a new topic anymore

I'll be going to New Zealand, Napier to study next year.
anyone has been there before?
how's the place, the weather, the people?
is it good to live in?
share your experience! or maybe some pictures?

Napier and Hastings (both medium sized towns) are next to each other in the the Hawkes Bay area.
Climate is quite mild, similar to Auckland. Very sunny in summer.
It is in a major fruit and vegetable growing area.
Napier is prone to earthquakes, having experience a massive one in the 1930's.
No university there, some technical colleges. Nearest uni is Massey in Palmerston North.
What are you going to study there?

Oh i see, are you like living or studying there now?
what about the lifestyle there compared to Auckland and some other big cities? and the people? are they friendly?
wow that's scary..but I had never heard of any earthquakes in Napier in my lifetime though
i'm going to high school in Napier

I haven't lived there, just been there.

The Napier earthquake is famous in NZ history, read about it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1931_Hawke's_Bay_earthquake. There are no tall buildings there though and houses are make of timber, so the risk is not so high.
There are very few Asians, Maoris and Pacific Islanders compared to Auckland which is good - you are forced to mix more with the pakehas. Life is very slow-paced and very quite.
Yea, the people there are friendly as most Kiwis are. Why Napier of all places?

oh cool

i seee, pakehas? you mean the locals there? r there many whites in napier then?

cause napier is cheaper compared to others...i'm still considering actually..btw some other places lik Levin..wad do u think about levin? hav u been there before? it's close to wellington...

Am leaving soon for NZ to do the working holiday thing. I'll be landing in CC. Any tips? Also wanted to ask, what's the best way to transfer cash there? bring cash and make an account or how? What did you do? Also I didn't buy a return flight. Will that be a big issue? I do have my bank statement though. Is the conversion there good? Like when I withdraw money from their atm machine? I also thought of doing that. Thanks a lot for any help anyone can give.

Yo ppl. I am selling NZD in lump sum. If you are going there for holiday or working holiday, hit me up for exchange. Rates are negotiatable.

Hi all,
I am estimating a cost for a 10 days backpacking trip to the South Island. Thinking to visit Christchurch, Kaikoura, and Queenstown. Activities planning to do are sea kayaking, hiking, bungee jump, whale watching and LOTR filming area Queensway. Planning to stay in backpacker hostel and food spending will be minimum. Transport probably by driving ourselves.
Please advise if NZD1200-1500/person excluding airfares is able to cover the trip.

Thanks and best regards.

edit: any idea where would be the best place for glacier?

This post has been edited by lencent: Dec 24 2011, 03:43 AM

Calculated based on per person for 10 days, + - the days yourself. All price from website and may change due to Peak Season (means +$$). According to my calculation... you need at least $300 more!

Living Cost:
Backpacker $22 to $25*10 = $220 to $250
Food $15 to $20*10 = $150 to $200
Car rental $35*10 = $350
Bus/transport (from airport?) $7.50
Extras: kiwi bird live park ($38), Haka ($55), Fergburger (at least $10), ice cream, parking, shopping, bar/alcohol, honey, crayfish (approx $25), and more $$$......

Activities:
Bungy $180
Whale Watch $145
Kayak Half day guided $95.00
More activities??

You can go glacier hike (Fox Glacier or Franz Josef-The recent news!), helicopter/Plane tour, boat tour(Te Anau/Tekapo)... they are not in the 3 towns you planed to go. You need to spend 2 days in order to do these activities (driving there, spend the night, tour day, spend the night). Btw, the cost of going to glacier isn't added to your list up there.

Thanks alot for the estimation. i was thinking bout the Fox Glacier as well, however it is on the west coast and i was planning to travel along the east coast only. Thanks for the input