Chasing Lunar New Year sunshine in Christchurch City
Mid February in Canterbury is late summer at its best: long golden evenings, a dry nor'wester warming the plains, and the Southern Alps standing sharp on the western horizon. Families gather for Lunar New Year, visitors fly in to Christchurch Airport, and plenty of them head straight for Akaroa, Hanmer Springs or the road over Arthur's Pass. A Christchurch City car rental puts that week in your own hands, with space for red envelopes, a picnic hamper and the odd unplanned detour.
Ezi supplies all five listings for 14 to 21 February, with prices running from $1,029 to $1,757 and a median of $1,624. The best value is at the small end, where the Corolla Cross Hybrid costs $1,029 and the Ford Puma $1,155, so anyone happy with a compact car saves hundreds. Book early if you can, since a holiday week like this one tends to thin out the cheaper cars first.
Four of the five cars are hybrids, which suits the long, gentle drives to Kaikoura or up the Banks Peninsula hills, because you'll burn very little fuel. Most seat five, so check your luggage before settling on a compact: a family of four with big suitcases will be happier in a RAV4 at $1,624. Summer roads here are dry and easy, but leave extra time on the Akaroa and Arthur's Pass routes, where tourist traffic and winding bends slow everyone down, and pick up your car in the morning to beat the airport queue.