JuiceMonkey

depends what you want.. but 100% you need to get a vacation house at the LEAST in queenstown, it is an expensive tourist trap. But for bars/nightlife snowboarding/fun etc.. it wins 100%

I've been to basically EVERY city/town/village on the south island, and by far queenstown was the most fun.
Christchurch was nice as well, and they have a good rugby team. Dunedin rounds out my top 3 (south isle only).

I do hear the north can be quite a bit warmer however, so you might want to keep that in mind.

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