Cos Mainland Mike Said to...
I recently left a (really) long winded comment on Ch-Ch Changes (blog of Mainland Mike, formerly Miramar Mike), and he replied:Mainland Mike: " :-) You need to blog that and not hide in a comment."
So here it is:
Amanda said: "The only places in new zealand i could ever dream of living in are Queenstown, Auckland and Wellington...Chch is too flat and boring for me and Dunedin is too cold...and you're right it's just not the same."
I said:
I was born and raised in Christchurch and I'll be honest, I'd much prefer to raise kids in Christchurch than anywhere else in this country.
Christchurch isn't boring, there's just as much to do there as there is here in Auckland. Yes, you're right - it's flat - thus you can walk anywhere you want - even if it takes you a couple of hours - because you'll never get tired. In Christchurch you don't have to worry when you go on your evening walk, unless you live in Wainoni/Aranui, and during my 18 years in ChCh, I experienced theft ONCE, and even though I'm polynesian I never encountered a skinhead. In Auckland I've been beaten up, had my car broken into, house broken into 3 times, and when I lived in Glenfield, experienced a murder on my street.
Also, being flat, cars have an extra 3 - 5 years added to their life expectancy in Christchurch, compared to cars in Auckland and Wellington.
I'll say this though: ChCh drivers suck - but I'll also say this: you won't find yourself stuck in traffic in ChCh for an hour...
And in Wellington I can't even think for all the galeforce winds trying to throw me off my legs. Cold isn't just cold, it's bitter and bone chilling, the wind rips right through you and all the clothes you could think to put on, and all those weird one way routes.....
(yes, I know Christchurch has a one way system, but it's in a grid formation with alternating directions. Hardly brain surgery to work out.)
Summer in Upper Hutt, or anywhere away from the sea "breezes", however, is bliss.
And that's another thing about Christchurch - Dryness. You don't need 4 showers a day in summer like you do in Auckland from the humidity. In Christchurch you just take the sun at it's face value, and the air is thin and breathable. If you wake up and it's sunny, then sunny it will remain, you don't have to worry about the 4-seasons-in-one-day weather of Auckland, and carry a change of clothes everywhere with you.
I would say something about Dunedin, but I've only ever been there once, so it would be unfair of me to judge. I do have a few old school friends in Uni down there, however, and they all agree it's the coldest place they've ever been...
I'd move back to ChCh in an instant except for my FIANCEE (yipee!!) and my friends here, and the fact that I probably couldn't get a job there like the one I have now.
Oh, and if I had the money, I'd love to live in Queenstown, but then if I had that kind of money, I'd also have a 6 bedroom mansion over Hobson Bay in Auckland, and I wouldn't have to put up with snow!
Also, I do recognise that different people have different tastest in cities and such, I just want to alert you all to the fact that Christchurch is not "Boring" - or, I should say, any more boring than Auckland - and that the flat nature of the Canterbury plains is actually something to behold and embrace, rather than fear.
And I'll be honest, I call Auckland home. My family house in Christchurch is also home, but in terms of cities, everytime I return to Auckland, I feel at home.
posted by miss_seph @ some point in time
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