Queenstown-based events manager Ms Stockham is back in Queenstown after working as a stadium co-ordinator for the Olympic Ceremonies Company since May.
She was responsible for operational issues related to the opening and closing ceremonies.
Issues included how cast for the rehearsals were getting into the stadium, what passes people required, who was permitted access to what areas and sorting out problems with stages.
Despite working 14 to 18-hour days, she described her posting as "the best experience" she had ever had.
An ancestry visa allows New Zealanders with grandparents from the United Kingdom to live and work there for up to five years, and Ms Stockham used this to attend interviews and return once she was offered a position.
Once her place was confirmed, she returned to New Zealand for two and a-half weeks to "get everything sorted" before her work began on May 1.
Ms Stockham and her team were given three months to move equipment into the Olympic stadium for the opening ceremony on July 27, and just 70 hours to move it out before the arena was prepared for the track and field programme.
"It's called transition. The field was the main thing, getting the stage out and working backwards from there," Ms Stockham said.
When the sporting events started, work continued looking ahead to the closing ceremony, though staff were given days off.
After the Olympics' closing ceremony was performed and the equipment taken out of the stadium, it was a rewind for the 200 people involved in the operational and technical teams to prepare for the Paralympics closing ceremony.
There were 800 people in the wider ceremonies team, which covered areas such as wardrobe, production, casting and design.
"We got everything out for the closing then they started building up almost immediately for the opening of the Paralympics, then they started doing rehearsals.
"Luckily, during the Paralympics it calmed down a bit because we were just waiting for the final ceremony."
The Paralympics closing ceremony was on September 9.
Ms Stockham has since returned to Queenstown, where she works at a special events company, RedNZ, with her father.
She praised the abilities of New Zealanders in the special events field, and said she was one of three in her team.
"We are just as good, if not better" than those from larger countries in similar roles, she said.
"Hopefully, I'm going to Glasgow for the Commonwealth Games ... once you are on the circuit, it's a lot easier. The same people tend to travel around the events.
"Hopefully, I will have some good references."
