Program Reviews

Robin and the Working Holiday Starter team helped make my New Zealand experience an awesome one. Even before I landed, Robin answered my countless questions about the working holiday visa promptly via Skype and instant messaging. He took the stress out of arriving by setting up my airport transfer, first night's accommodation and bank account. He met with me for coffee and discussed my travel plans, opening my eyes to new ways of travelling to make my money go farther and to enjoy my time the most. Robin is friendly, funny and knowledgeable and I instantly felt at ease, knowing I had made the right choice. He is not only full of travel tips, but also helpful with job searching. He helped me tailor my CV and practice interview techniques to suit the NZ job market. Robin was a constant contact and friend throughout my time in NZ, always keen to check how things are going and to answer any questions throughout my entire year long NZ adventure.

Is it great because your bank account is set up before you get there? Or because of the job coaching? Or because of the resume help? Or because of the constant help throughout the year with literally anything you need? OF COURSE!

But what really makes it great is Robin. He literally meets you at the hostel and treats you like an old friend from the first second. He is there to help and his goal is making sure your time in NZ is the best it can possibly be. After those first couple of days with him, you feel confident that you can handle your working holiday with ease. And if you get to road block, you can simple call/text/email him and he will get back to you within minutes. He (and Working Holiday Starter) has never felt like a business out for profits. They legitimately want to help.

If you're coming to New Zealand, flick them a message. You won't regret it.

WHS is a useful introduction to living and traveling in New Zealand. Robin is a fast friend, and acts as the perfect icebreaker to the country, familiarizing you with Auckland and getting you in touch with other members as soon as you land.

The services provided by WHS are outstanding and the team goes out of their way to accommodate your requests and to be there for you throughout the duration of your work visa (or extended holiday visa, as I often referred to mine as.)

Let New Zealand amaze you. Hike. Paddle. Camp. Climb.

There is so many things to do in New Zealand ! At the beginning of my journey I was a little lost. WHStarter was a very good option for me to have good advices and to be ready to just go and explore the beauty of New Zealand. I didn't had to do the boring things like open a bank account... Awesome !
Hiking, discovering NZ and all these wonderful persons was for me my first experience as a backpacker and it was... AMAZING !

It's your turn :)

We spent some really good times in Nz due to Working Holiday Starter. Before to come, Robin booked an airport shuttle and few nights in a first hostel. At our arrival, we spent a day with him to learn the basics of the country, to open a bank account, to overcome the paperwork, to open a phone line and to improve our English. Robin is helpfull, accessible and friendly; he responded to all our questions and we met him again few times in Auckland during our Kiwi trip. We really recommend the Starter Pack services, easy and nice!!!

Working holiday starter (WHS) is def worth it if you're coming to NZ on a working holiday visa.

Compared to other NZ working holiday options, this is the best one. You get a lot of great services like an airport transfer to the hostel, help opening a bank account and applying for a IRD number (tax number), mail holding service (very useful when traveling around NZ with no permanent address) and many others. This def, helps take away some of the stress of arriving in a new country and makes you enjoy NZ so much more!

Where WHS differs from others is mostly due to Robin, the owner of the company, and his personal 24/7 support for you during your time in NZ. He will give you lots of information and tips when you arrive in Auckland, even help with creating a CV for the NZ market.
He also is always a phone call/skype/email away and will always respond promptly which is very useful and helpful while traveling and working in NZ.

Overall, my advice is GO with Working holiday starter, you won't regret it and it will be a great experience :)

This New Zealand gap year surpassed all expectations, which started with Working Holiday Starter. As a smaller company actually based in Auckland, NZ, it provided a much more personal service.

Even before arriving in NZ, i received loads of information to prepare for my trip. Through skype chats and email, all my questions were answered quickly.

I was feeling pretty stressed about travelling alone for the first time, but everything from the airport transfer, hostel accommodation to the paperwork was all made stress-free by Robin, boss man of WHS.

What was great about the introduction to nz and auckland was that we could talk in a relaxed environment - a quiet bar over a pint. The info robin provided opened my eyes to what variety of travel and work options there were and decide what was right for me. The job workshop was helpful to learn a few extra interview skills too.

The help has not stopped since my first week in Auckland. Any question i had, robin responded super quickly. Cheers for an awesome experience!

I spent a lot of time comparing the various option for New Zealand and settle on working holiday starter after chatting with them by email. I was a bit sceptical about this kind of program as I has hard time seeing the value for money. That said, there is now no doubt in my mind that my $$ were well spent!
I save so much time and hassle using them, I save a lot of my travel too by booking with them and most importantly, they gave me the right tips to get to work super fast. So fast in fact, that I saved up enough money for a trip to Samoa AND Fiji on my way back even after touring the whole country!
I also want to point out the real personal touch: I knew everybody by name and they all knew me by name too. It felt great to receive such a good care in a stressful trip like this.
Seriously awesome!

WHS is the easiest way to start the best time in your life!
The WHS Crew cares about you, gives usefull tips and advises and helps you when ever you need help through your whole trip.
Robin (the owner of WHS) prepares you for the trip and organizes the first days in NZ for you. The transport from the airport to the hostel and even the accomodation is included in your starter pack and the crew will help you to find the way through Auckland!

The WHS package is the best preparation for your trip overseas!

From the start I had a good impression of them using their super helpful website to prepare my trip but it is only when I joined them by getting my Starter Pack that I realized how much of a big help they where!
In only 2 days I was set up and ready to make this trip mine. Whatever I wanted to do I could, they had a solution for me! And we were only 3 people in my group all with completely different plans, it was really grat to see that each of us got what we wanted, were ponted out in the right diretion. We really felt cared for and not just one sheep amongst others.
I stay in touch with the team for my whome trip asking advices along the way and I can definitively say that I would not have had the same trip without the Working Holiday Starter!