Hi guys!

Last year I finished school, just turned 19, and I am currently doing an internship in the aviation sector here in Zurich. This will end in September '13. I am now gathering ideas about what to come next.
I could go to university, but I think if I do not make a stay abroad now I may never have the opportunity to do one again, never (never say never, I know). And as I don't know yet what I want to study, I think it would be best for me to make a stay abroad.

Now of course, I know the focus of such a stay abroad should be about learning the language, but to be honest I don't want to miss model flying abroad . And as winter is always coming down on me pretty hard, I was thinking that I could maybe make a stay abroad in the southern hemisphere starting in October or November, ergo New Zealand or Australia, to flee the winter here in Switzerland. About the duration I am not sure yet, I was thinking like five months in an english speaking country, and maybe two months in a french speaking country.

I was browsing through the companies that are organising such stays abroad, and there are quite a bit of destinations that are offered, of course they're all a bit bigger cities all along the coastlines. For instance in Australia there is Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne, Hobart, Sydney, Byron Bay, Gold Coast, Brisbane, Sunshine Coast, Noosa, Airlie Beach and Cairns; in New Zealand there is Coromandel/Whitianga, Auckland, Mt. Maunganui, Napier, Wellington, Nelson, Christchurch and Queenstown.

For now I thought New Zealand would be a nice country to make a stay. For instance Napier would look nice to me. Now, I would find it very cool if, wherever I would go, if I could do some model flying, especially slope soaring.

Now, do you have any tips for me, what destination should I take into consideration? Perfect would be if I could meet some locals to fly with, or who could take me with them flying. Or is there anyone even in such a family taking in foreign students?

Again, I am just starting to gather ideas, so I would be grateful for any tip you could give me

best regards from switzerland
Stefan

I work for Energizer Battery in USA and have visited our plant in La Chaux-de-Fonds many times. A fellow engineer at LCF took me flying in his plane over the Alps. I also traveled with my wife to Interlaken and Geneva. I think I‘d stay right where you are. Beautiful country and very nice people.