5 Budget Friendly Volunteer Programs in New Zealand

Featured, Rishe, Volunteer Guide Abroad, Volunteer, Study & Work Abroad | Alex | May 24, 2011 at 5:37 am

Photo by: Pacific Discovery

Lush green vegetation, picture-perfect mountainous landscape and countryside overrun by sheep makes New Zealand a kickass backpacker destination. Let’s face it; you can only spend so many weeks bumming and boozing your way from town to town before your existence feels nearly as empty as your wallet. Keep vagabonding it up in New Zealand with some purpose by giving a bit of yourself back to the country with a volunteership.

The bad news is that volunteering has recently become popular amongst the double-mocha-frappucino-sipping, J-Crew-sweater-wearing, Upper East Side yuppie crowd. Like all other Stuff White People Like, that means it can get priced way out of backpacker-ville. You don’t need to give up your savings along with your sweat: OTP’s got five fantastic volunteerships for the New Zealand-loving, budget-savvy do-gooder.

con 5 Budget Friendly Volunteer Programs in New Zealand

Photo by: EMUCrossCultural

Ark in the Park

An abundance of human beings in any given environment often means awful things for the natural world. We cut down forests, pave over greenery and bring invasive species that just screw the rest of the ecosystem. Luckily, New Zealand is one of the few countries that really cares about keeping Mother Nature happy. Thus, hundreds of eco volunteer projects across the nation spend every day fighting human ignorance. An eco-restoration project in the Cascades Kauri Park, Ark In the Park aims for plants, trees, frogs and birds to co-exist happily and undergo natural recovery by introducing predator control and eventually restoring species that have long since left the park. Get a free workout with the physically demanding, but ultra-rewarding, work of maintaining bait lines or help out with project management and fund raising. Volunteers with experience in ecology or biological science are welcomed with open arms and overseas visitors are given assistance finding low-cost accommodation nearby.

mus 5 Budget Friendly Volunteer Programs in New Zealand

Photo by: Travellers World Wide

If roughing it out in the mud isn’t your idea of a good time and you prefer sharing creative passions over getting your hands dirty, we’ve got your cup of musical tea. Live the city life in the heart of Auckland while working with refugee children from Somalia, Ethiopia and South Pacific Islands as an assistant music teacher. Unfortunately, many children around the world are only schooled in the bare minimum subjects (if they’re lucky), losing out on the chance to discover alternative fields of study like the arts. Music can be more rewarding than algebra for some kids, so you’ll be bringing out the ukuleles and ripping it up on the recorder with wide-eyed kids. Travellers World Wide coordinate this project, bringing volunteers from around the world to Auckland for anywhere between a month and a year for a minimal cost. Don’t worry if your musical talents are best reserved for the shower – it’s about having fun, inspiring kids and being enthusiastic.

ath 5 Budget Friendly Volunteer Programs in New Zealand If artsy-fartsy isn’t your style either, get involved in some playful competition with the athletics program, also coordinated by Travellers World Wide. Teach some kids the game of no-holds-barred rugby, the art of baseball or just about any sport you fancy. You’ll get to run around in the grassy hills of New Zealand while helping underprivileged children gain confidence, a sense of teamwork and a little healthy muscle tone too. Bonus: You’ll get an insight into the bizarrely different, but indescribably awesome New Zealand sporting culture, a travel discovery in itself.

: Photo by: cedartree_13

WWOOF.co.nz

New Zealand really is a land full of sheep – and New Zealanders love their white, woolly friends. You will get within petting range at any local farm and while you’re at it, why not do something a little more productive? If you haven’t heard of WWOOFing, it’s time you did. Unlike most conservatory programs that benefit a national park or government program, WWOOFing is a hands-on way to assist a specific organic farm of your choice. Every program is different, but most provide you with a free bed or camping spot and all the farm-fresh food you can eat. WWOOFing doesn’t save endangered baby animals or change a child’s life, but it is super-beneficial to the farm. Many are small, low-impact operations that can’t afford to pay realistic wages for the amount of labor necessary. You give and the farm gives back; the perfect symbiotic relationship.

For perpetually-curious inquisitive minds; get on board with the Takapu Research Project, a real world game of Clue. This project is focused on solving the mystery of the Australian gannets, a New Zealand seabird. These befeathered creatures are baffling local biologists with their success at not only sustaining a steady population, but increasing despite numerous competitors. You’ll be helping researchers who busy themselves with attaching GPS trackers to birds, studying their flight patterns and forging trips to solve the secret of this bird’s success, in hopes of promoting their strategy with other endangered species. If you can’t get a spot in this particular detective team, look for other projects with the New Zealand Conservation Volunteer brigade.

There you go, kids. Pack that backpack and leave the iPad behind. It’s time to give back and show some appreciation to those Shire folk in hospitable Hobbit fashion.