what? there are pubs every 100 metres in australia.

Depends what tickles your fancy jibber. If you enjoy scenery then you can basically go anywhere in NZ and find some form of it without having to pay the world to see it.

I'd recommend checking out Queen Charlotte Sounds, these are located at the top of the South Island and are pretty spectacular. I can't say much about the town though as it's pretty low key but definitely the scenic stuff up that end is fabulous. If you can't see any reason to go up there just for the Sounds, thats where the Ferry is situated too so maybe on your way from the South to North islands you might get to check them out, just passing by.

Also, by Wanaka where you're staying is a place called the Fiordlands. These are pretty beautiful. Then a little way up the West Coast from where you are is the Fox Glacier. I've been there once and it's an impressive sight. Just a big block of ice haha. And further up still, along the West Coast, above a town called Greymouth is a place called Punakaiki, which has the Pancake Rocks and Blowholes. I'd post pics but it requires effort so heres a link to some visuals.http://www.punakaiki.co.nz/photos.htm

Nelson is a fantastic tourist town. This is roughly top left of the Sth Island. Um Queenstown I'm sure you'll check out, another great tourist place apparently. Kaikoura, is 3/4 up the East of the Sth island and about 2 hours North of Christchurch. Kaikoura is a great place to see some whales. I think they do fairly cheap tourist trips out to have a glimpse of them.

Thats a brief layout of the South Island I don't know as much about the North Island but I could recommend you some places when the time comes:D

Rotorua has mud pools and exciting things to do, Queenstown is the tourist town, Aucklands there for shopping, although I think Christchurch is just as good. I havn't really travelled around NZ so I'm not full of ideas, but I am very keen to do some travelling myself after Uni!

Good thread! /mentioning New Zealand! :D

thanks for the suggestions everyone. So far, as far as my trip goes, I've got it down to this (this is all assuming I can get a job at Treble Cone). Arriving in Aukland in middle of may, staying there for two nights at least. The reason behind this is that I'm going with a program called SWAP (students working abroad). They're helping me out with a work visa, job contacts within new zealand, and, two free nights in aukland when i first arrive. After that, I'm gonna try and check out a few cliff jumping spots, hopefully I'll meet some people that are willing to come with me. One of them is at rainbow falls in the bay of islands, 80-90 feet, so I've decided I can't pass that up. I've been looking into it, and despite being a really touristy place, the bay of islands really looks like something I want to check out. I'll have about 3 weeks to travel around the north island, and then I'll take a plane from aukland to wanaka begining of june. Once there, job training for treble cone will start up, and I'll have to find some kind of living arrangements that are more permanent than backpackers lodges and hostels. merkeba, I'm assuming you live in on the south island, how's the surfing off the coast in the winter?

yeah i really wanna go to new zealand. it seems to be the better, more grown up australia. plus they have hobbits.

yeah, if I had a little more time for this trip, I'd definitely check out australia too, but school only leaves me a 4 months window. haha, 4 months never seemed so short a time before.

I have travelled through most of NZ and it is a beautiful country - both north and south islands. I'm not sure what you mean by a "better,more grown up Australia"???

Jibber - check out Te Anau on south island. Tis beautiful and not too far to then check out Milford Sound. Spectacular scenery.

their govnerment isnt run by a childish ass kisser. so i meant laws and stuff. and ruling

I have done a little bit of travelling and although I love spectacular natural scenery, I also love the big cities. I always try to stay right in the heart of a city so I can get the feel of the city (also, roughing it in a tent doesn't appeal to me at all - sorry jibber!)
Some cities I've been to include (I'll pick only one per country otherwise I'd be here forever):

NYC - (pre 9/11) I was terrified about going here but I absolutely loved it! It truly is the city that never sleeps.
London - Need to go back here as one week was not long enough. So much to see and do here.
Berlin - Ultra modern and nothing like what I expected. Friendly locals.
Paris - Took my breath away. Everything I expected it to be and more.
Amsterdam - Weird city with weird people smoking weird stuff. Felt uneasy here but enjoyed my stay all the same.
Dublin - Although Australia was such a long way away, I felt the most at home in Ireland. The Brits may have discovered our country but we definitely get our sense of humour and welcoming hospitality from the Irish.
Edinburgh The Scots sure know how to party. The castle was definitely a highlight.
Auckland A smaller version of Sydney
Sydney last but not least, my most favourite city of all. Flying into Sydney you get a fantastic view of the harbour and beaches.

I'll look into that for sure, hopefully I'll get enough time off of work while i'm in wanaka do do some traveling (minor) around the south island.