Hey McLeanMeister,
I would wholeheartedly agree with the previous posters. Get a Working Holiday Visa, go out and see how you like it, there's a big difference between living somewhere and visiting somewhere on holiday. I went to NZ aged 20 in 2007 with £3k in my pocket, admittedly the exchange rate was better then that it is now and I got a job around 2 months after landing in NZ and I had an absolute blast. There are minimum requirements for funds which you are supposed to bring into the country when you start your WHV so I would take this into account when planning your funds!
Good luck!