Best abroad experience I've had

I was here for just one trimester, which definitely wasn't enough. The city is fantastic (my favorite in NZ), and you could definitely spend your entire time just staying nearby. We traveled a TON, which was really easy from Wellington as it's pretty central to everything. The academic standard is definitely way below the U.S., at least from my institution, but in my experience that just allows you to spend more time in the city and traveling. Don't study abroad to study -- you can do that every other semester :)
The housing is pretty good, though I know they changed locations for this semester. I will say that all the Americans noticed that the Kiwis typically have less experience flatting, so they often don't clean... hopefully, your flatmates will listen when you tell them this, but if now, trimesters are short enough to deal with it. There's a fantastic hiking and backpacking scene, and even as a solo woman I felt very safe and frequently freedom camped. I definitely recommend going in the northern summer (so the first trimester) -- best temperatures and climate. The attempts at indigenous reintegration are really interesting, and NZ in general is a great place to study indigenous land management and knowledge. NZ is NOT the place to come and spend all your time in the city -- I would recommend it most for those interested in the outdoors or at least willing to explore other cities! It's very difficult to get to the country since it's so far away from pretty much everything, so you really want to make the most of it.