Ten winter nights in Christchurch: frosty mornings, hybrid road trips
Late June in Christchurch City brings low golden sun, mornings so cold your breath hangs over the Avon, and the Southern Alps standing white on the western horizon. The Dragon Boat Festival gives travellers a ten night window from 19 to 29 June, and plenty of them use it to leave the city for the mountains, the Banks Peninsula bays, or the long road to the ski fields. If you want that freedom, a Christchurch City car rental is how you get it, because the best of Canterbury sits well beyond the bus routes. Here's what the 5 listings on offer will cost you.
Ezi is the only supplier in this set, and its four priced cars run from $450 to $1830, with a median of $525. The deals cluster at the bottom: the Corolla Hybrid at $450, the Puma Hybrid at $500 and the RAV4 Hybrid at $550 sit close together, while the other SUV drags the top end up to $1830. Smart bookers grab one of the three cheaper cars early, since one of the five listings came back with no price and the field is already small.
Four of the five cars are hybrids, a good match for ten nights of city driving and long highway stretches. Mountain roads like Arthur's Pass can be icy first thing, so the all-wheel-drive RAV4 at $550 is worth the small step up from the $450 Corolla if snow is forecast. The two seven seaters are the ones to chase for big luggage loads, and the Puma suits couples who pack light. Pick up mid morning, once the frost has lifted off the airport car park, and ask the counter about chains before you head over the Alps.