Thanks very much for your replies. It is really interesting to hear about others peoples cycling experiences. Just realised that I have asked a lot of questions but have not mentioned a lot about my own cycling. I grew up in Holland so cycling has always been a important of my life. In Holland many people use their bike as primary transportation: commuting, recreation, grocery shopping etc etc. You do not have to wear a helmet in Holland and most people cycle without wearing any special cycle gear, just your every day clothes. Many cycle paths in Holland are separated but even if they are not you would feel safe on your bike at any time. Because so many people cycle in Holland, drivers are very used to cyclists (many of them being cyclists). I can not remember any serious accidents that involved cyclists. When we moved to Christchurch we used our bikes a lot but I have always hesitated to commute by bike which involved a ride to the other side of town. I feel a lot more confident now and although we now live 42 K out of town, in summer I occasionally use my bike to commute into town. It is not a bad ride at all and I do not feel particularly unsafe. We also use our bikes to walk our dog and visit local shops, pubs and restaurants. On holidays we frequently take our bikes. We have cycled in Vietnam and Sri Lanka and have done a few cycle trails in NZ too. So we are still passionate about the good old humble bicycle!
Cycling is very topical in Christchurch. Christchurch has always been a cycle nutter city but in the last few years cycling has become less popular because the city was designed to accommodate cars and while often ignoring cyclists and pedestrians. Cycling has regained some of its popularity in Christchurch, and many people express that they are very keen to hop on the bike again but they want to feel safe when cycling. After the earthquakes a huge amount of people indicated that they wanted better infrastructure for cyclists. The Christchurch rebuild plan aims to make Christchurch a cycle friendly city. There is some scepticism around this because cyclists have been promised better infrastructure for years and years but this has never really eventuated but many people are hopeful that this will be a game changer and make sure that young and old will feel safe on their bikes again. There is an excellent website which covers all the latest Christchurch cycling developments if you are interested
http://www.cyclingchristchurch.co.nz and where the sister websites for Auckland and Wellington can be found as well.
New Zealand can be an awesome cycling country and many people realise the potential but councils, NZTA and government sometimes struggle to grasp this so I agree with Dbonnet that is important to let them know if you want cycle facilities in your region to be improved.