<\/p>\n
I\u2019ll cover flights, visas, accommodation and finances. It's arguably the least glamorous part of moving across the world, but it\u2019s got to be done.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n One of the easiest and most popular visas that students at Bath apply for is a Working Holiday visa.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Unfortunately, in New Zealand you are only allowed to apply for a working holiday once in your lifetime (unlike Australia where you can come back on this visa multiple times). Considering we are not getting paid for our placement it seemed like a bit of a waste to travel on a working holiday. After some calls with NZ Immigration we were told we could be eligible for a student visa but that it would require a lot more paperwork and potentially a rejected application. Eventually to save myself the hassle I ended up just applying for a working holiday. However, one (fortunate) friend was successful with her student visa, whilst the other two (the unfortunate) were rejected and ended up on a type of work experience visa.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n My application process couldn\u2019t have been easier and only took a couple of days for the most unofficial looking document I think I\u2019ve ever seen to land in my inbox.\u00a0<\/span>Regardless of what visa you decide to choose, I\u2019d recommend getting this sorted out first!<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Department of Health has a long history of doing placements over in Auckland. This makes accommodation pretty easy to sort if you\u2019re heading out there as most people arrange a house swap with the placement students in the year above. However, as we were moving out to Christchurch on a new placement opportunity we didn\u2019t have any connections to help us out. My housemates and I began searching around February and it was a pretty long and painful experience from then on.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n I mean, who knew it would be so hard for a bunch of 20 year old girls to find a house on the other side of the world\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n The main problem we faced was that any listings advertised online would typically expect a move in within the next few weeks. For that reason we restarted house hunting around July\/August. There were still many obstacles like often requiring a NZ phone number or address for applications, fixed tenancy agreements that didn\u2019t meet our planned stay or hesitancy to rent out to overseas students. To make it even harder, all student housing in New Zealand comes completely unfurnished and considering neither my luggage allowance nor bank account would be able to resolve this, we had to find a fully kitted out place.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n So for anyone who read my last blog and got the impression I was incredibly disorganised for having no roof over my head about a month before departure, I hope that clears everything up.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n By late September we finally managed to secure our (fully furnished) house and I was able to escape the dreaded question\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n I would recommend sites such as <\/span>myrent.co.nz<\/span><\/a>, <\/span>realestate.co.nz<\/span><\/a> and don\u2019t forget about Air BnB! For the first month my housemates and I are staying in an Air BnB until our tenancy begins in December. They are both well distanced from the University of Canterbury which was definitely our main priority, as well as both having kitchen\/cooking supplies. On a brighter note I can inform you that Christchurch housing prices are at least half the price of those in Bath, so every cloud and all that.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Taking one of the world\u2019s longest flights is no mean feat. <\/span>Think about whether you might want to make some stops along the way (or back) to break up the flying time and take advantage of some of the countries along your route.\u00a0<\/span>Before I arrive in New Zealand I am stopping off in LA to visit a friend as well as going to South East Asia on my return home. <\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Given my one-way direction around the globe, I went through a travel agency to arrange an around the world ticket to save on flight prices. Definitely give this a look into if you\u2019re wanting to do something similar. If you\u2019re not 100% sure on your plans, book a single ticket out to remain flexible for any post-placement travelling you might like to do. <\/span>As both myself and my housemates all had different plans prior to arriving in Christchurch, we flew separately. However, it would be a nice idea if you can book similar flights with others travelling the same way to ease any nerves.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n In terms of luggage, I\u2019m taking a 70L rucksack. I pretty much only packed clothes and shoes and a few personal items. Bear in mind that when you\u2019re packing you\u2019re most likely going to be buying things whilst you\u2019re out here. When it comes to hitting the shops the NZD$ to GBP\u00a3 conversion rate basically makes most things feel like half price (a blessing and a curse).<\/span><\/p>\n If you're not tight on space (or weight) then I'd definitely recommend packing as many toiletries as possible as my bank account took a blow when I first arrived once I realised how much stuff I needed to buy.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Most New Zealand placements with the University of Bath are unpaid, so planning ways to finance in advance is definitely needed. The university does offer support for those going abroad with information about grants you could be eligible for. The Turing Scheme is a grant open to those studying in the UK and going on a year abroad but funding is very limited and can't be relied upon.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n The upside of doing research at a university is that you are on a \u2018Type B Placement\u201d meaning you\u2019re eligible for your full maintenance loan from student finance which is normally reduced during a placement year. As my placement started in November, I was able to work over the whole summer and save up a fair bit. Most New Zealand placements typically begin around July so if this is the case you\u2019ll need to plan much earlier ahead.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\nVISA<\/b><\/h3>\n
ACCOMMODATION\u00a0<\/b><\/h3>\n
![\"Hand](\"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/students\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/81\/2026\/01\/PHOTO-1-scaled.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nFLIGHTS\u00a0<\/b><\/h3>\n
FUNDING<\/b><\/h3>\n