Well, most flights to Auckland from LA cost around 1600 dollars. But, when i came down last year, i got a flight for 700, so there are cheap ones out there. Getting a job will be difficult. Most will not employ you unless you have a level 2 certification or above, at least for teaching. For any other job, you need a working visa, which is not easy to get. Go to the new zealand immigration site for more info on the visa. I would live in Wanaka if I were you. Great, beautiful town and very close to the mountains. You can hitch hike almost every day on the street and get picked up. I would also check out Treble Cone (
www.treblecone.com)....that place is sick when there is some pow! I would bring a very very warm sleeping bag. It gets incredibly cold down here in the winter and they do not have internal heating. I would normally sleep in sweats, sweatshirt, beanie, socks, sleeping bag, and heated blanket on high and still get cold at night. I would try and find accomodation in Wanaka soon rather than later. It is not easy, and not cheap! Buy a season's pass to snowpark and treblecone if you can affod it. Snowpark is freaking awesome, as I'm sure you have checked out. I would not stay in queenstown because it is loaded with tourists and it is quite a drive to snowpark from there...wanaka is definitely the way to go. Bring lots of extra money to do really fun things like Heli-skiing, bungy jumping (600 feet!!!!), jet boating....it is extreme sports central down here and you wont want to miss out. Hope that helps! (btw, im living in New Zealand right now, so if you have any other questions, just throw me a message)