nick wallis,
I am currently doing the conversion thing from a South African license and believe the guy who told you to get the time spent on various sections sorted. I can't and thus have to do a correspondence course just to prove that I have the BASIC syllabus stuff I already did at school nearly 20 years ago.

This before they will even consider me for the TC exams.
As much as I understand the need for it, it is still a pain in the hole trying to get the brain functioning along the lines of a student again.
Just out of curiosity, what would a Canadian licensed guy need to do to get a NZ ticket? In SA it's fill out a form (naturally), pay a fee (of course) and pass Air Law, then Bingo!!