U.S. Pilot Seeks New Zealand 172 Rental

[JohnSBA]

My wife and I have a 172Q based at KSBA and are planning a trip to NZ in December. We've flown VFR in every U.S. state (except HI until this November), Canadian Province, and two islands in the Bahamas. Now we'd like to spend much of our remaining life savings flying commercial to NZ via HI, touring those beautiful lands by car and 172. I'm active in Chapter 527 and would like to connect with EAA and/or NZ/HI aviators.

I've searched the forum and not found anything recent on the topic of U.S. pilots renting 172(s) in NZ. I'm also an AOPA member and haven't yet found anything on their website either. Can anyone here direct me to any resources regarding renting 172s in Australia & NZ during that December 2016 time frame? Will I need an international pilot's license? Any help will be appreciated.

In case you'd like any more info about us, check out our blog: https://ja4u.net/
There you can find narrative and pix from most of our flying adventures along with links in the right column to our direct email Contact form, larger versions of my favorite pix, and my submissions (mostly aerial pix) on the local news and info website Edhat.com

Thanks in advance for any help or tips you can share.

---Updates---
Here's where I'll edit this initial post to add some info & links that may be helpful for others on a similar quest.
5/15: NZ CAA FAQ, CAA Forms (see 24061/18 for VFR), AOPA NZ Useful Links, IAOPA NZ, Flying NZ, FlyInn NZ, NZ Aviation Federation. 2005 EAA article, 2012 AOPA article.
5/16: Ardmore Flying School, Auckland Aero Club.