LIVING IN NEW ZEALAND

Welcome to New Zealand, Aotearoa - Land of the long white cloud.
Haere mai, Haere mai!

Moving to a new country brings with it both challenges and opportunities. Many aspects of life in your time in Homestay will be different from what you are accustomed to. We hope that most of these differences will appeal as some of the novelties that come with living life in a new society. However, some will also inevitably be more difficult to come to terms with.

So that you may better prepare yourself to adapting to a different country, different culture, please visit these links as they may provide you with a brief insight into New Zealand and some of the culture differences that you may experience.

Click on the photographs

Immigration Tourism Scenic Moving to NZ

Arrival in New Zealand

To assist your arrival into New Zealand, please check out the link below. It may provide you with valuable information about Auckland International Airport and how it is laid out, Airport procedures, Customs procedures and Immigration. There are also links that will allow you to check out all transport options available to you whilst you are in New Zealand.

Click Here to learn more about:

Maps
International terminal
Domestic terminal
Arrival procedures
Departure procedures

Flight information
passenger information
terminal facilities
Shop & dine
Biosecurity
Border security

Travel in New Zealand

Travelling in New Zealand is very simple. Below are some links that will assist you in deciding how, when and how much travel will cost. Suburban bus services are very good and it is a very good and relatively inexpensive method of getting around the city. As with any city around the world, every major city has its "Rush Hour". Bus and Taxi travel during the rush hours will of course add a little more time to your travel.

Coach Travel around New Zealand www.intercitycoach.co.nz

Auckland Bus, Train and Ferry service timetables, cost and journey planner can be found on this Planner

Taxi Services - National and Suburban

Travelling by air between New Zealand destinations;

Air New Zealand

QANTAS

JETSTAR

Other Airlines operating within New Zealand, also Rail and Inter-Island Ferry Sevices

Tips on driving in New Zealand

The New Zealand law for driving is different to that of other countries. New Zealanders drive on the left hand side of the road. If you are thinking about driving in New Zealand, you NEED to check out the links below. They will provide you with very important information.

Click HERE for important information from the New Zealand Land Transport Association

Click HERE to find out about New residents and visitors - driving in New Zealand.

Driving in New Zealand

In New Zealand you drive on the left side of the road and roads are generally two lanes with no barriers between the lanes. Weather conditions can change quickly during the day, making driving sometimes dangerous. Roads can be narrow and not very straight and care must be taken at all times. The open road speed limit is 100km/hr and in the cities it is normally 50km/hr. It is recommended students new to New Zealand take one or two years to become familiar with the road conditions and road rules before considering if they should drive in New Zealand.

The law requires the car driver and all passengers to wear seat belts at all times. Also helmets are compulsory for all motorcyclists and cyclists in New Zealand.

All cars must have current registration and a Warrant of Fitness (WOF) before they are allowed on the roads. Car insurance is also very necessary and can be expensive for new or young drivers.

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Driving Licences

The Land Transport Safety Authority is the organisation that administers driving tests, issues driving licences and publishes the New Zealand Road Code booklet. This booklet outlines all the driving and road rules. There are three stages to obtaining your driving licence.

Learner Licence - To get a Learner Licence you must be at least 15 yrs old, supply a birth certificate or passport, pass an eyesight test and the multi-choice road code test.

All drivers on a Learner Licence must display an L-plate sign on their vehicle and must be supervised and accompanied in the car at all times by a fully licensed driver that has held their licence for more than two years.

Restricted Licence - When you have held a Learner Licence for more than 6 months, you need to pass a practical driving test to be issued a Restricted Licence. A Restricted Licence allows you to drive a car by yourself under certain conditions. The main condition is that you can normally only drive between 5am and 10pm and outside of these hours a supervisor who has held their licence for more than two years must be in the car with you.

Full Licence - When you have held a Restricted Licence for 18 months, you can take the practical driving test (the Full Licence test). None of the restrictions on a Learner or Restricted Licence applies to a Full Licence holder.

All driving licences include a photo and personal information on the holder.

Driving lessons cost about NZ$30-NZ$40 per hour and use the instructor's car.

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PLEASE - DON'T BECOME A STATISTIC

Map of New Zealand

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