So we’ve come to the end of a long road. Looking back to my first blog post – all the way back on December 9 – I wrote:
“Telling a story in three minutes – let alone one that’s compelling, affecting, emotionally engaging or just purely entertaining – is a challenge that’s not for the faint of heart. On top of that, your brief is to capture something intangible, yet profoundly inspiring: the spirit of New Zealand, a country it’s possible you haven’t yet visited. For some of you, transporting yourself there on the page will take an extraordinary feat of imagination.”
Way back then, before even a single entry had been received, let’s face it – I had no idea if any of you would do it. I had no idea if it could even be done. None of us did. Maybe when you first saw the brief, you didn’t either.
But you did all of those things. You imagined yourself in New Zealand. Wherever you are in the world, you looked at this place from the inside out and you wrote your stories as if it was your place. As New Zealanders in spirit, you engaged us, affected us, made us laugh and above all, entertained us with your entries.
New Zealand is a place that has to be seen, its air breathed and its earth walked. Here, you can climb into cloud-capped peaks and find an untouched lake that has your name on it. You can traverse a single country and feel as though you’ve travelled the world, with the photo album to prove it. You’ll find tranquility that can being peace to a troubled heart, or you can grab a choc-top with sprinkles, then do some seriously outrageous bombs. And you can be alone in a pristine wilderness, where it’s easy to imagine that you’re the first who has ever walked there – a place so perfect and close to your heart that you feel as though you might have created it yourself.
Those aren’t my thoughts – they’re yours. You created them, among many others, and in order to do so, you showed that you can imagine a little of what it’s like to spend some time in the youngest country on Earth. Now that you’ve imagined it, we hope you’ll visit and see New Zealand for yourself. A great place to start planning is newzealand.com., where you’ll find holiday ideas, activities, driving routes, and great deals. And if you want to stay in touch with the New Zealand online community now that the competition has ended, you can become a fan at our 100% New Zealand page on Facebook or follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/PureNewZealand.
From me, thanks for being an amazing community to be in the midst of – you guys have all done yourselves proud with your support, enthusiasm and creativity, and it has truly been a pleasure to be here.
But most importantly, from all of the Your Big Break team – thank you for taking part, all the very best with your future filmmaking endeavors and we hope to see you in New Zealand soon!
– Your Big Break Critic
P.S. If you’re so inclined, you’re more than welcome to follow me on Twitter – don’t forget to say hi if you do! :)

























