sooooo, how about them potential transfers....
Well, after the Canterbury 2011 earthquakes me and my wife transferred to Welly, for just over 6 months (October through April). I can confirm that we did not feel the need to go away from Welly for the weekend. The city itself was sufficient. It was a warm summer and I swam off the beach in Oriental Bay. I listended to live music at Hashigozaki and they also had decent beer there. We lived in Cuba St opposite the SanFran, and I could walk to the Westpac to watch Phoenix live, from the YF corner.
We eventually returned to Chch to face the long battle with the insurance for our house (we finally got paid out in Nov 2017 and are rebuilding now), but those six months in Welly in 2012-2013 helped us to stay sane. So I have no argument that Welly sure is the coolest litlle town, even if Christchurch is home.