Where students are not limited by the course they wish to study to 1 specific school, they may wish to consider the New Zealand region they wish to live in.  Access to particular adventure activities may also be a consideration.  However, remember that good transport systems make travel within New Zealand relatively easy. 

Web resources www.newzealand.com and www.newzealandeducated.com provide an excellent overview of New Zealand regions.  Both websites divide New Zealand into 24 regions:

Major cities are Auckland (New Zealand’s biggest city), Hamilton (Waikato region), Palmerston North (Manawatu region), Wellington (the capital), Christchurch (Canterbury region) and Dunedin (Otago region).

Throughout New Zealand there are over 100 official visitor information centres.  i-SITE is New Zealand’s official online network of visitor centres.  These are committed to providing free, friendly and objective information about visiting their area, mainly from a tourist perspective (local attractions, transport and visitor accommodation).  See www.newzealand.com  - -i-site visitor centres.