The bigger question for us seemed to be "Why not?" We had spent about 5 weeks in New Zealand on our way to Australia in 2008. Although the visit did have its ups and downs - http://www.tripdiary.com/katherine - we were still so enamoured with the country that even a 3 hour stopover on our way back to Vancouver in 2009 provided excitement. So it's been on our minds for the last year and we continued to revisit the idea over the last 12 months as we both struggled to find enough stable work to help fund the trip. I've been on contracts (by choice now since earlier this year though) and there just hasn't been a lot of construction work here lately. I don't think we've really felt "at home" since we have been back in the Lower Mainland. We realized that the lifestyle we have right now isn't exactly what we want so we're looking to try something different. We absolutely loved the NZ people and their laid-back, friendly manner. The lands...