Which part of NZ do you love?

[Jsquare]

We have in lived Christchurch since before the earthquakes and are still very happy here. It has everything we need and everything on your doorstep as mentioned by GeneralAK.
I certainly couldn't afford our house with it's views in the UK (it's better now that it has been rebuilt ).
Will Christchurch have another major earthquake, hopefully not in my life time but who knows.
Am I concerned about earthquakes living in Christchurch, nope but I would be if I lived in Wellington.
Majority of Christchurch buildings have either been strengthened or rebuilt now to new design codes.

Hi JJG, thank you for sharing your experience in Christchurch. The last sentence makes sense and is rather reassuring!

[Jsquare]

I've only properly lived in Auckland. I have spent a lot of time in Wellington (every weekend for a year). I love Auckland because the weather is mostly good/temperature and there's easy access to some amazing parts of NZ; Waiheke, Coromandel, Northland, Taupo, Rotorua, Tauranga etc. I personally don't enjoy Wellington, it's too small, weather is terrible and there's not a great deal going on around it. Easy access to the south is a plus I suppose but you can easily fly from Auckland too. Another downside for Welly is earthquakes, it's pretty scary being woken up in the middle of the night to the house shaking. Their houses aren't structurally up to it either. Tsunami is another threat. Never lived in ChCh, I really need to visit that place.

Hi MagicPizza, thank you for sharing your experience. Auckland sounds like the city where I come from, but with the added bonus of nature surrounding it. I believe it is expensive to live in Auckland.

Gosh, I cannot imagine waking up to a shaking house. I would be terrified!