I also am a Californian, and having heard New Zealand's good rep, spent three precious vacation weeks there a few years ago.
On the plus side, the people are uniformly friendly. Even the airport security people are nice. If you like to hike, play rugby, drink beer, jump out of helicopters to tackle deer, and generally spend time being physical in the great outdoors, and you don't mind a lots of rain, you could love it.
On the other hand, if you are a more intellectual type, value culture, enjoy a variety of foods ... well, just google ["new zealand" boring]. It's like what England must have been fifty years ago, before they had Indian food.
Here's one infamous review that rings true for me:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2002/feb/28/netjetters2001ellie.netjetters
Many people swear they love New Zealand, and I believe them. But if (like me) you are not one of those people, well, you'll be sorry.