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I had 2 close friends move over there there, the first before uni with their family and the second after uni in the UK alone, so when I moved down I already had a place to stay / friends and a support network. I started on a WHV and when I found a job they got me a visa, and I then used that to apply for PR. Assuming you are still young enough you should look in to that, you can also do similar in AUS and see if you like it their.

I think having some work experience before you go is important, and should increase your chances of getting a decent job out there.

I ended up leaving NZ after about 3 years, and first moved to Ireland (for work) and now have settled in the USA. Having the PR visa at least means I have an option to go back at anytime later in life.

I do miss my friends there and NZ, it is a great place, before I got married and had a baby I would still go back and visit 2-3 times a year, mainly for weddings or other similar events, but now that is harder.

My main reason for leaving was financial, it was costing me more to live the lifestyle I wanted than I was earning there (a lot of that was probably due to a lot of travel back to US/UK/EU). I have able to achieve what I wanted in the USA, but that is likely because I work in finance.