After A-levels, many just think: Out of here! Just relaxing and that as far away from home as possible. Some choose Work&Travel. For me, just Travel was enough (also because I had already known what I wanted to study).
Why is New Zealand such a classic in Germany? For German Kids it’s the place most distant. Actually it’s located on the exact opposite side of the globe.
The distance is not the only reason, of course. There are so many various landscapes on an area just as large as former Western Germany: Volcanoes, glaciers, high mountains, hills, fantastic beaches, fjords, sounds, cliffs and last but not least also beautiful towns and cities.
You can find exotic animals, as well as common-or-garden sheep. To be precise, there were 40 millions of them, ten times as many as people. I wouldn’t be surprised if they will get the right to vote someday. Special emphasize on the Kiwis: the fruit, the birds and the residents!
Together with my now ex-girlfriend and a friend of hers, we were flying to the other side of the globe for six weeks. We didn’t want to/couldn’t stay longer, as it was expensive enough. Work&Travel would have facilitated that, but we preferred Travel to Work. By the way, travelling with two girls wasn’t as bad as some might imagine. It was rather quite relaxing!
The flight was €1.300, which you might get cheaper nowadays. In another post we describe discrimation of young people when renting a car. In New Zealand, too, being below 25 years old, we had pay more than normal; so this wasn’t a bargain, too.
Luckily, the hostels were cheap, as we were there in New Zealand’s winter (low season). But weather was great mostly. Not for swimming yet, but perfect for discovering the country and often bright and sunny.
All in all, it was expensive. But thanks to self-catering in the hostels, costs were limited, so we as young high-school graduates could afford it. During school I was working along the way and could save a lot; together with some support by my parents and my grandmother it was possible. So much on financing the trip.
We discovered both islands of this lovely country (spending roughly half the time on each North and South Island). The Lord of the Rings movies, which came to theatres some years ago, raised New Zealand’s myth, of course. My wanderlust was expanded; thanks to my parents I could discover lots of Europe and the US before, but this was my first long-range-trip alone. This was special, of course, and I can recommend it to every high-school graduate (or basically to everyone)!
More on New Zealand: North Island, South Island and an itinerary. Last one shows you, what to cover in six weeks’ time.
I would love to hear from your experiences. Maybe times have changed!