Mail
Mail in New Zealand is handled by NZ Post. There will be a Post Shop in almost every town with multiple outlets in the cities and small ones usually part of a general store in rural areas. They stock a range of envelopes and packaging for international postage so head there if you have gifts you want to send home safely. Due to the many tourists and expats that the staff deal with day to day, they are knowledgable about international postage costs and will be on hand to advise you!
Poste Restante can be used in the major cities in New Zealand to receive mail and parcels if you don't have a permanent address. Simply address mail to your name, Poste Restante, City Name, New Zealand and then call in at the main office with some ID to pick it up. Alternatively you can purchase our mail service which will give you a permanent address in New Zealand to receive mail whilst travelling and allows you to use it for bank accounts and other official needs. For more details click here.
Internet
Internet cafes seem to breed in New Zealand with more opening all the time in the major cities. You will find yourself in the middle of nowhere in a hostel but still able to check your emails! Email is cheap and fast in the main cities but can be more expensive in rural areas. Some internet cafes now also let you burn cds from digital cameras and use word processing packages to edit CV's etc. Shop around to get the best deals and the fastest connections. With the growing amount of internet resources such as Backpacker Board you will find that you can still find out information whilst travelling in New Zealand so don't overload your rucsac with travel guides! Remember whilst travelling in NZ you can use Backpacker Board to meet other travellers, find work, buy and sell and investigate destinations.
Telephone
The international code for dialling New Zealand is 64 so remind friends and family before you leave! Within NZ there are also local dialling codes which prefix numbers. Some guidebooks do not indicate this next to hostel/activity listings so they are worth noting down:
09 = Auckland & Northland
07 = Bay of Plenty, Central Plateau and Waikato
06 = East Coast, Taranaki
04 = Wellington
03 = South Island
Telecom control the phone networks in New Zealand and is as accessible as any other Western country with public phoneboxes across the country. As of late New Zealand has been influxed with cheap international calling cards which allows you to call home from as little as 2c per minute. Head to any newsagent or dairy to look at the prices and options available.
There are also two mobile networks available in New Zealand: Telecom and Vodafone. If you want to keep in touch with home through texts or want the safety and security a mobile can bring then you can purchase a cheap pre-pay mobile phone or a sim pack to put in your existing unlocked phone. Calls start from as little as 49c to the UK although domestic calls can be expensive.
