Working Holiday in New Zealand - how easy to find work?

[Steve316]

I am off travelling at the end of the year, and plan to be in New Zealand in about February 08. Working Holiday Visa is now sorted, but how easy / difficult is it to find casual work over there? I imagine by the time I get there that funds will be relatively low and the need for work will be reasonably immediate. I have done the working holiday in Australia and it wasn't particularly easy to get work, although I must admit I didn't bust a gut to try! :D

Either office work or bar work would be preferable but I suppose anything decent would do...

Hopefully someone one here has been there and done it and can advise?

[mtbskalover]

where abouts are you thinking of going?

north or south island?
in several towns there must be plenty of tourist related work
e.g queenstown and rotorua

[gabi]

This is the kiwi equivalent of the jobcentre..

http://www.winz.govt.nz/

Most foreigners seem to end up fruitpicking, however thats largely coz they dont have visas. Since u do have one, I'd just contact WINZ...

[Steve316]

Not really got a firm plan of where we will settle as yet, just depends where we like best really??

Any recommendations?

[gabi]

Auckland sucks, Wellington rocks - but youll have a waaaay better shot at finding work in auck..

Really does depend on what kind of work u do tho?

Wellingtons *full* of cafes and bars though so u could pick up work like that easy enough i woulda thought..

Otherwise nelson/golden bay area for fruit picking..

[tiki]

Auckland Rocks, Wellington sucks.

Wellington is OK if you love freezing weather and gale force winds.
Auckland good for job hunting and big city life :p

[Pete the Greek]

In my experience, finding work in either Oz or NZ are equally fraught with difficulties and red tape.

The easiest, hassle free labour opps are with fruit picking. Which in NZ, you can expect to get around $10 an hour (£3.50-£4) for. But, apparently, according to mates of mine who did it, it's a great way to meet people and have a laugh. (and get jiggy with ze ladiez who happen to like that stuff also)

They have a plethora of fruit picking opps in Queenstown. And when I were in OZ, Brisbane seemed the place to pick up some out of town fruit picking jobs also.

Best of luck friend

:)

[gabi]

Auckland Rocks, Wellington sucks.

Wellington is OK if you love freezing weather and gale force winds.
Auckland good for job hunting and big city life :p

Sorry? Havin been bought up in NZ i cant even think of one aucklander who prefers auck to welly..... Auck is a small city that wants to be a big city - it IS big - geographically. Which makes it even more shit. A car is a necessity as a result...

Welly can be up its own arse yeh with its artiness but at least its got a bit of life about it..

Best advice altogether though is make sure u've got a return ticket back to civilization, ie europe..

[tiki]

I'm a brit living in Auckland, been down to Welly quite a few times and like it, just not for me. Auckland has changed a hell of a lot in the last 10 years and has a great mix of peeps, very diverse. Yes geographically Auckland covers a large area and transport is crap, but when you know where stuff happens, the place sparkles, whereas Wellington felt a bit like Eastbourne with pretensions.

All my friends here are Aucklanders and they wouldn't dream of living in Wellington. I think the whole thing of everyone in NZ hates Auckland is a bit of an urban myth, exasperated by media representations (to may people in Auckland, stealing all the jobs, wealth, etc, etc).

Anyway, it's horses for courses innit, everyone has an opinion, I suppose the best thing to do is travel around and see what takes your fancy.

Ah yes, fruit picking will always tide you over until you can set something else. Good luck!!