[craig1234564]

Hi everyone, I am still in the UK with my family but we are thinking about moving to New Zealand in about 2 years time..
Im intersted in Christchurch but have some questions..
>
> What are the travelling times by car from CHristchurch to Nelson or Dunedin?
> is it possible to go for a day trip to these places if you live in christchurch, or would you have to go for the weekend?
>
> Are there decent beaches in or near Christchurch, or do you have to travel to find this, plus is the weather good enough for beaches or is living further north a better option?
when i say that i mean if the weather is the same as the south of england then thats fine..
:cheers

[saralou]

Can only help with Dunedin as we travelled from Chch to Invercargill by car in December - travelling time was 3-4 hours (granted at points we did slow right down to look at the amazing scenery) so probably best for a short break rather than a day trip. Closer to Chch, we spent time at Timaru which was lovely and Akoroa where you can go swimming with dolphins.
Closer still are Lyttleton, Redcliffs and Sumner which are all beautiful.

Hope this helps, I'm sure someone else will be able to help you with Nelson.

[nippa&pippa]

Hi everyone, I am still in the UK with my family but we are thinking about moving to New Zealand in about 2 years time..
Im intersted in Christchurch but have some questions..
>
> What are the travelling times by car from CHristchurch to Nelson or Dunedin?
> is it possible to go for a day trip to these places if you live in christchurch, or would you have to go for the weekend?
>
> Are there decent beaches in or near Christchurch, or do you have to travel to find this, plus is the weather good enough for beaches or is living further north a better option?
when i say that i mean if the weather is the same as the south of england then thats fine..
:cheers

Travelling to Nelson is not possible to go for a day trip, need to be weekend trip as we don't have motorway like UK, so you have to cross-country to get there..further we have been for a day trip from christchurch is kaikoura, arthur's pass and timaru, that is enough. Dundein, again weekend trip...is possible to get there is a day but you will find yourself only there for few hours before had to return back...
Beaches...sumner, taylor's mistake, brighton are really good, Le Bon's bay really good..Yes we do have good beaches, ask locals for where is sandy beaches as there is some of them are stony beaches like in north side of christchurch (from amberley), there are lots of good beaches in south canterbury too, but I have not yet been because i have just moved to south side of christchurch, but locals told me they are good too.
The weather here is either better or same as south of england but def lots warmer than midland!!

[nippa&pippa]

Can only help with Dunedin as we travelled from Chch to Invercargill by car in December - travelling time was 3-4 hours


How you manage that????

[NoelMC]

Hi

Try this link

http://www.accommodationz.co.nz/distances2.html

it gives all the travel times between towns in the south island, and a link to travel times on the north island
Hope this helps

Noel

[olivia]

Hi,

Not too sure about the travelling times for Dunedin/Nelson but i do know there are lots of lovely beaches around Chch. We live in Rangiora and go to Waikuku beach a lot with our dog but it's also popular with swimmers & surfers and families too. Further down you can take your boat out at kairaki beach which is at the mouth of the Waimak river.
Also nearer Chch there is the beach at New Brighton where they have the kite festival and Sumner which is great for families too.

Hope this helps.

Olivia

p.s all above are sandy beaches

[craig1234564]

Thankyou that was great information in your repy :nice1
>
> Seems Christchurch is fine as i like the idea of easy beach trips, I will try and check out some pictures of these you have suggested, previously I had only seen Nelson beaches and wow its amazing, well not strictly nelson but Tasman National park area.

[SharpBlade]

Hi,
We live in Chch , St Martins, and it only takes us 15 min drive to get to some really nice beaches; I suppose they are probably not as nice as the ones around Nelson for instance, but to me, they are great; The kids and I went to South Brighton beach on Tuesday and spent the whole afternoon there, it was a beautiful day, we found a massive tree on the beach, like drift wood but giant and we set up our camp; We only counted about 15 people passing by during the whole afternoon, and I love that : only a few min from Chch and you can get the beach to yourself ! Sumner is nice too but we like South Shore better (because once again, you don't see too many people..yeah, we are a bit non sociable when it comes to the beach..);
Laura