>>1069585Can you drive? The good thing about NZ is you can drive for a maximum of 2 hours from literally anywhere and be at the sea or a national park.
I'd recommend staying/working in the South Island for most of the time (cheaper, less people and better scenery). Take a trip up through the north island for a month or two and hit up all the good spots then.
Queenstown is a good place to start. The town is a bit of a tourist hotspot, but that's for a reason - there's a lot of great stuff nearby. If you have any hospitality experience finding work shouldn't be too hard.
Christchurch is pretty cheap right now and is a decent enough city to live in, bit of a drive out to Arthur's Pass or any other cool spots though.
Fiordland has hands down the best scenery in the country, there's not much in the way of cities or people there however.
Nelson Lakes is my personal favorite national park in the country, (out of the way/not too full of tourists, some pretty neat lakes and varied terrain. Also it's chock full of manuka and smells great).
As for the north Island:
Wellington is the capital, it's got some cool stuff in the city but it's a bit lacking in terms of /out/ stuff nearby.
Rotorua is also a bit touristy and smells awful, but there's a decent amount to do.
Hamilton's a trap, avoid it at all costs.
Auckland is the closest to your typical american city, aka congested concrete jungle surrounded by sprawling suburbia on all sides. Most guys doing working holidays start here as it's where they fly into, then realise their mistake and leave after a few months.
Tongariro, Taranaki, Coremandel and Ninety Mile Beach are all good spots to check out.
