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Work New Zealand with Bunac

hi guys,

I’m planning my gap year for next summer, just looking at ideas for things to do. My booklet arrived today from Bunac about Camp America and it also included information about working in New Zealand, it sounds pretty cool and I'm looking into it in more detail.

Just wondering if anyone has any experience with this, either working in new zealand and/or with Bunac?

I'm particularly keen on getting some experience in media, I'll hopefully be completing my Media and Radio Production degree at chester this year.

If anyone can help me out let me know, cheers

Dan

Reply 1

mini2007

Hey I've just come back from working in New Zealand for 1 year as part of my university course. I had the best time in my life there.

I was working and living in Queenstown which is called the adventure sports capital, its an amzing place. The scenery is breathtaking and so much to do! Bungee jumping is one of the main activites to do. The night life is wicked, and some places remain open until 6 or 7 in the morning! So if u like going out its great.

But New Zeland is a fabulous country, everyone you meet is so friendly and i am returning in December cos i miss it so much!

I definately recommend it!

Reply 2

violentsmile

I'm looking at going to New Zealand in the summer with BUNAC as well. Are you just working for the summer or going for a whole year? I think I'm gonna get the IEP visa and provisionally go for 4 months but if I like it I'm gonna defer 2nd year uni and stay til my visa expires.

Reply 3

jimsun

Hi
Ive just come back from a year in NZ, and it was one of the most incredible things ive ever done. I was working in a school, and so got huge holidays in which to tour. I was based in Auckland, which is the biggest city. Staying there is pretty cheap i was stayed in a flat with some friends for a while and it was NZ$120 which is about £35 a week.
I took £1000 pounds of my own money and came back with with about £20, and i was earning about NZ$350 a week.
I did however, do alot of extream sports/touring while i was there, which isn't cheap, especialy in places like Queenstown. For example one bungy-jump can be anywhere between $140 & $200, white-water rafting was $150 and renting a car u can do for about $35-$40 a day. I toured round with 3 other friends so I was only paying $10 a day for the car. (about £3!)
I was an amazing experiance and i reckomend it to anybody. :biggrin:

Reply 4

shuvle

12

jimsun

Hi
Ive just come back from a year in NZ, and it was one of the most incredible things ive ever done. I was working in a school, and so got huge holidays in which to tour. I was based in Auckland, which is the biggest city. Staying there is pretty cheap i was stayed in a flat with some friends for a while and it was NZ$120 which is about £35 a week.
I took £1000 pounds of my own money and came back with with about £20, and i was earning about NZ$350 a week.
I did however, do alot of extream sports/touring while i was there, which isn't cheap, especialy in places like Queenstown. For example one bungy-jump can be anywhere between $140 & $200, white-water rafting was $150 and renting a car u can do for about $35-$40 a day. I toured round with 3 other friends so I was only paying $10 a day for the car. (about £3!)
I was an amazing experiance and i reckomend it to anybody. :biggrin:

Nice to hear about other peoples travels, you get alot of people on here saying they're off to so and so and then you never hear from them again.

Would you feel confident in doing the whole thing on your own or is going as a group a must? Also does anyone know where I could find some people to go with? I'm sure there are websites around. Also has anyone got any more experiences?!?! so many questions :smile:

Reply 5

jimsun

I went on my own. I only met my 3 friends when they came out for a month at christmas. so i spent 11months out of the 12 with people i had never met before.
I really enjoyed it, and am glad i went alone, it forced me to me new people, although seeing my friends was really good. :smile:

Reply 6

shuvle

12

jimsun

I went on my own. I only met my 3 friends when they came out for a month at christmas. so i spent 11months out of the 12 with people i had never met before.
I really enjoyed it, and am glad i went alone, it forced me to me new people, although seeing my friends was really good. :smile:

How'd you meet the people you never met before, was it easy making friends?

Reply 7

Em1ly

mini2007

Hey I've just come back from working in New Zealand for 1 year as part of my university course. I had the best time in my life there.

I was working and living in Queenstown which is called the adventure sports capital, its an amzing place. The scenery is breathtaking and so much to do! Bungee jumping is one of the main activites to do. The night life is wicked, and some places remain open until 6 or 7 in the morning! So if u like going out its great.

But New Zeland is a fabulous country, everyone you meet is so friendly and i am returning in December cos i miss it so much!

I definately recommend it!

What work were you doing over there?

Reply 8

Jenny

1

Im just starting my gap year.. and havnt got much saved yet. My original plan was to work for 6 months then travel for about 4 months.. but now i kinda want to do the work n travel type thing.. but im not sure if ill be able to afford to n stuff. so i got a few million questions :tongue:

here goes. roughly how much money do u need to have saved before u set out? do u earn enough to live off n have fun with when your there? is it easy to earn enough / find jobs? and did u find u had 'enough' time to stil have fun and experience lots as well as working? i really like the idea of it.. spending more time there.. but if ill be scrimping n saving constantly then i might go back to my original plan of work here n then go travelling after... any thoughts? thanks!!!

Reply 9

dragon_1706

I'd definitely recommend New Zealand, but I don't know whether it's worth spending that much extra money to go with a company like BUNAC. Although I haven't used the company myself, I did meet people out there who had, and several said they wouldn't have bothered if they'd realised how easy things were going to be. As far as I could tell, the main benefit seemed to be knowing people before you arrived, but you'll have no problems meeting people at work, and in hostels or wherever you decide to live.

Reply 10

donkey_boy

OP

thanks everyone for your comments, I give up a while ago about this thread!

dragon_1706: I like the idea that if I go with Bunac there will be support if I need it available to me whilst i'm out there. but your comments are good, certainly more confident about it now.

here are a few other question that people could answer if they can:

what kind of work can you expect to get? in bars, cafes and shops?
And what about acomodation, did you all rent places or stay in hostels?

cheers
dan

Reply 11

Acidedge

9

I did Work Australia with BUNAC. I spent nine month there, then two months in New Zealand and another one returning via the South Pacific.

Whilst the trip was brilliant and I think everyone should visit Australia and New Zealand (and Fiji) at some stage in their lives, I would not recommend a working backpacking trip. (In agreement with dragon_1706's second sentence above). Finding a job that isn't complete crap (door-to-door selling, fruit-picking) isn't easy and the pay is poor. You work for the experience alone. Bear in mind that you're earning a pittance and paying for rent, food, activities, beer etc. as well. I think it's a far better idea to earn before you travel. Budget something around £700-£800 a month for Australia and New Zealand, all in. (Excluding flights).

Regards your questions; bar/cafe work, working in a hostel, sales, fruit picking are standard, but there are many more. And it's cheaper to rent if you're staying in one place for a while.

Work New Zealand with Bunac

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