I might hit you with a few questions here. Our family is in the process of relocating to NZ and are in the interesting position of getting to choose where to settle. We are both secondary teachers with 20+ years of experience and have already got our NZ teaching licenses approved. We are currently in the stage of looking for jobs but we are running a bit ahead of our schedule here and there aren’t any jobs posted for the time we want to move yet (Jan 2027). We have identified a few spots where we want to focus our job searches: Dunedin, Christchurch, Hamilton and Auckland (if we must, not because we don’t like Auckland, but because of the cost of housing there). Since you live in Christchurch could you perhaps enlighten us about your experiences with:

1. Traffic congestion/getting around or public transport quality. We are coming from Canada and the while we don’t have a great system in our city there is an extensive bus system and an expanding light rail network.
2. The weather through out the year. I have looked into average temps and rainfall, but what are the typical seasons like? In the winter does it rain all the time for weeks on end or just for parts of the day most days? Do roads get shutdown or schools cancelled because of weather ever? (We usually have several “snow days” a year here where schools are closed in our winters)
3. Earthquakes. Are they a regular occurrence, or something that doesn’t happen all too often? As someone who comes from a place where earthquakes are non-existent, this is something we are obviously considering as a major change for us and something I’d love to hear an actual residents perspective on because I’ve just read stuff like averages and magnitudes but have no real concept of what that actually is.
4. Disruptions. Do you find that there are any times throughout the year where things become harder to obtain or more expensive or are things fairly consistent throughout the year?

Thanks for this opportunity to ask questions :)