Hi there, Queenstown is a great place to fly. You will enjoy the 50hr course, you learn heaps and meet some great people. It is a fairly hard market to crack into when you first arrive, but there has been quite a bit of movement over the past 6-8 months down there so will be a few jobs going for the next summer season i imagine.
400hrs generally puts people in a good position to pick up work. MEIR stands for not much down there as there is no IFR work and no multi flying for the first couple of seasons for newbies.
The best thing to do down there is to meet all the guys and girls that fly for the companies while you are doing the 50hrs and try not to stand on any toes. All the operators welcome the aeroclub pilots jumping in spare seats for rides into Milford which is cool, an excellent way to build a bit more local experience and also a free way. As with anywhere, you have to make things happen for yourself down there and cant sit back and wait for it to happen for you.
Other than that, enjoy the experience down there and stay in Jackies good books (very important)
Slater