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[TheFuriousWombat]

gimme some more information geez.

Hmm....well I like doing outdoor stuff but I would very much like a city with a decent art scene, meaning somewhere with decent, cheap music venues and galleries and a generally cool atmosphere. Like...nice cafes and record stores and stuff. I'll be studying history and probably New Zealand type history in particular. I'm partially interested in going because my senior thesis is potentially going to be on Maori-British relations in the earlier colonial periods and tracing Maori cultural developments in the face of Western colonial dominance. Or something. I would like to be able to travel and hike in pretty places but leaving the country once or twice would be nice so easy access to air travel would be cool. I'm not so into adventure sports but I'm open to trying some out and, while I like bustle, sometimes I need peace and quite so a major urban center might not be the place for me. So...ideas? Based upon "research" (i.e. study abroad websites), Victoria University in Wellington sounds pretty nice. Am I being horribly misled?

[Fenriswolf]

Victoria is pretty nice, and they have a decent history dept I think - I know they had that whole area flashed up a few years ago. Wellington is probably the best place in NZ for art/"culture" etc, and while it's biggish (for NZ) it's mostly all spread out and bushy so not too crowded. Also some access to nice areas for outdoor shit but not outstanding for NZ. Enough for me anyway. *shrug*

Air travel's pretty easy, dunno how the prices would stand up in comparison to where you're from though. Still, if you're anywhere western your money's worth more than ours so that's a plus!

P.S. Pissing down is a very common phrase and fairly socially acceptable in NZ, or at least the NZ I've lived in.

[FruitKat]

From what you've said I'd say that Wellington would be perfect for you.
It has a lot of nice cafes and a happening art and music scene. It is smaller than Auckland, which is a city easy to get lost in. And has a lot of history to it. The climate is pretty mild, I'm not sure where you are comparing it to, but I'd say mild, I think they get snow on the surrounding hills during the middle of winter but not much else. I have never been to Victoria University but I think it would be an appropriate choice, and considering Wellington is our capital, political history and records are all there. The museum te Papa is a pretty great resource too.
And I recommend New Zealand history, it's pretty compact as far as histories go but also very interesting!
Hiking places is also relatively easy, there are areas really nearby and its a skip and a jump to Abel Tasman National Park which is gorgeous.
Besides you will be in the middle of the country so everything will be relatively easy to get to and Wellington is big enough that you won't feel like you are in the middle of nowhere (it is quite easy to feel like that in other parts).
And you won't get eaten by bears. New Zealand doesn't have any bears.
Good luck and if you need anymore information, don't hesitate to message me!

[calenlass]

Kat! Katkat! Kaaaaaaaaaaat <3

[Gryff]

I get the feeling that this thread is mostly irrelevant now, but my advice would be to avoid the main city centres, as you are more likely to be hit by a rogue zorb in the more densely populated areas. People are just zorbing all over this motherfucker.

[Yayniall]

Are sumatran rat-monkeys still a major problem?