TheBanyanTree: To Those Down Under

[Chris & Kate]

Hi Sidda, I'm a long time member, but I don't contribute, just enjoy reading others stories.
I live in Dunedin which is about 4 hours drive away from Christchurch.
I know Christchurch pretty well.  The western part of the city was not destroyed by the earthquake.  The University of Canterbury (which is on the west side) did suffer from damage, but not catastrophic compared to other parts of the city.
Peter is right that Christchurch is cold in the winter, for example it will be minus 2 degrees there overnight tonight (very early spring here).  It also gets pleasantly warm in summer (around 20-30 celsius), but of course the winter is correspondingly cold, temps of 5-10 deg celsius on a winters day being common.

The city is operating reasonably well considering the damage done in Feb 2011 (the major one).  Rebuilding just got going strongly about 3-4 months ago.

By the way accommodation in apartments and rental houses is Very Expensive at present because so many houses were destroyed. I'm afraid its supply and demand and there are many extra tradespeople in town right now, so accommodation is in short supply.

If I can answer any other questions you may have about what the city is like, please ask.

By the way Dunedin has a fabulous university, the University of Otago.  It is ranked second of NZ's universities (after Auckland).

Regards, Kate
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: TLW 
  To: thebanyantree 
  Sent: Monday, August 19, 2013 9:40 AM
  Subject: TheBanyanTree: To Those Down Under


  Dear Tree Folk: Because I am a silly Amurican, ignorant of the owrld
  outside our shores, and also because I haven't had lunch, I am not clear on
  whether any of our writers live in New Zealand. If you do, please let me
  know. I am considering a graduate degree at University of Canterbury. Why?
  Because I can.  :-D

  Thanking you in advance --

  Sidda