Anyone disagrees? feel free to reply to this post.
Yep, parts of it are very special, eg. Lake Hawea, Wanaka, Milford Sound. I guess the problem for many is the distance to NZ. The great aspect is that you can live there, buy a cheap $US40K house and fix it up. I spent a bit more for a place by the beach, but thats essentially what I am doing, and I wrote an ebook about it....as one does. See http://www.sheldonthinks.ecrater.com/product.php?pid=3492501.