I have arrived here in New Zealand a few days ago, and some of the folks here say that I might be a bit optimistic about the processing of my visa
I just sent in my Overseas application form to the EWRB yesterday and the processing time for that is 6-8 weeks.
Then when I'm about to have it, I would need a job offer in order to apply for a work-to-residence visa which has a processing time of 1-2 weeks.

However they say that I shouldn't count on those numbers too much as the workload varies greatly, so it might even be longer to get the visa.
Also, I would need to find an employer somewhere north of Auckland as I don't like big cities or want to go south, and that might be very hard they say.

That means, if I don't get a job offer in time, I won't be able to get a visa and then my 3 month stay would expire. However, I can stay for 13 weeks and with a max processing time of 10-12 weeks, I should be good to go.
I know that there's also christmas and such but I'm optimistic enough to think that it'll work out just in time.

However, if it wouldn't work out in time, I would need to apply for a work visa, I just don't know which of them would secure a prolonged stay here. Maybe it's possible to apply for a different visitor visa that would extend my visa waiver?

Thanks for your time.