I presume you are a medic Mac (seeing as you are heading for locum work). Canterbury is nice, plenty of flat fields for forced landings! They do have issues re. fog/smog in winter, but no worse than say Hamilton. The landing fees are on the steep side for NZ and ATC are very by the book (what I've heard, not experienced)
If you are looking for medical work send me a personal message, as I have contacts in the North Island, including a few pilots.