Since your course is only for 12 months you are only permitted to work part time under the these circumstances:

– To meet course requirements for practical work experience, or

– During the Christmas and New Year holiday period (if you are in full time study)

You may also work part time if:

– You are in a full time study course lasting at least six months, at a private training establishment or tertiary institution. However, your visa or immigration officer has to be satisfied that the main purpose of your course of study is to develop English language skills, and, you have an International English Language Testing System (IELTS) overall band score of 5.0 or above (General or Academic Module), or

– At a tertiary level of at least one academic year duration as part of an approved tertiary student exchange scheme.

I would say the south island if you are looking for a casual, nice, laid back life. Christchurch is gorgeous, Its the 2nd biggest city in NZ (about 400 000+ people) so you have that city feel but at the same time it’s really not a big city. Christchurch is central in the south island, so you can travel down to the gorgeous tourist spots like Wanaka and Queenstown or up to Kaikora or Nelson. There are beaches in Chch and Chch is very close to the ski fields also. Schooling in Chch is some of the best in NZ as it has the main teachers college here. This is were people in NZ come to study teaching. You will love NZ, its a peaceful and relaxed place to live, a great place to raise children, and beautiful. Enjoy! Oh yeah…. people in NZ are nice so don’t listen to those other comments. You asked the question in the Australia section that why.