Oyster volunteers sharing their experiences about their time as conservation volunteers in New Zealand!
“New Zealand is incredible. I am loving every moment, especially the conservation. The people that I met on my short time on the trip became a little Nz family to me and I’m very sad to be going. The work was rewarding, fast paced and fun but the other activities and fun days we also did make it completely worth it! Living in a house with just other volunteers was daunting at first but it was a really fantastic expensive and I have made some lifelong friends and memories. Many thanks for all your help!”
Tilly, 2 weeks May 2023
“We did everything from removing invasive plants to planting seedlings. It was a great chance to explore Christchurch & help at the same time. The following week we drove to Punakaiki where we planted some 600 trees. We were right on the beach and I got a chance to run a couple miles and jump in the ocean right after volunteering was over. I have never seen such amazing stars as I did while I was there. It felt as though you could pluck them out of the sky. Thanks for helping me put all of this together”
Peter, 2 weeks February 2023
” I am having the best time here in New Zealand. The activities are quite varied and the scenery is absolutely fabulous. We had a great time last night in Atiu Creek when the power went out. We couldn’t use the cookers as they were electric so we used the fireplace instead. It actually worked really well and we even managed to make a crumble! It was like being around a campfire”
Ruth, 5 weeks October 2018
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I just got to Wellington yesterday and have gotten set up in the house. My stay in Auckland was great! Everybody was really nice and I got along well with the volunteers (lots of Germans!) Atiu Creek was really nice! Our team leader Bruce was pretty cool and the work felt rewarding! So far, I’ve had a good time in New Zealand and I hope the coming weeks will prove to be just as good!”
Nicolas, 3 weeks April 2018
“I am in Wellington at the moment. I really enjoyed the last two weeks. I loved it. I had a lovely group and we had lots of fun with our kind Team Leader. I liked the work as well, we had done plenty of interesting things. Overall I’m happy that I joined these projects.So far I had a great time. I love being a volunteer. I really enjoyed spending time with like-minded people and talking about their countries. In addition I love New Zealand and the Kiwis are incredibly friendly”
Isabella, 4 weeks Jan 2018
“I’m loving it so far! Just remembered seeing something about offsetting my air miles by paying towards a tree planting project – was it on the website? – typical I can’t find it now. Keen to calculate the number I’d need to plant in theory.I’m planting trees here in NZ though – did 49 yesterday!”
Bronwen, 2 weeks Feb 2018
” I’ve just finished my first week of volunteering at a national park called Atiu Creek about 1.5 hrs north of Auckland. It has so far been great fun & everyone (both staff and fellow volunteers) have been really friendly. This weeks activities included planting trees in areas that will eventually become woodland again and removing invasive tree species from conservation areas. I feel like I’ve already learnt a lot and can’t wait for the rest of my trip – especially to explore the South Island soon!”
Amy, 9 weeks September 2017
“Hi Georgie! Things in New Zealand are great! Everything with the program has been easy, from finding where I need to be and figuring out what I need to do. The organisers have been really kind, informative, and knowledgeable. Thank you for everything that you have done! I’ve been very prepared for everything”
Aidan, 6 weeks September 2017
