I've just returned to Europe from New Zealand where I spent (their) summer doing a PPL at the Canterbury Aero Club/International Aviation Academy of NZ at Christchurch.
I would wholeheartedly recommend the school and the city. From the flying point of view, you are based at an international airport and mix with airline traffic and ATC from day one. ATC at Ch are very good and do a great job in dealing with heavy traffic at times. The club has its own airfield 2 minutes outside the zone where circuit training takes place, but you can also train in the grass circuit at the international airport.
Landing fees are included in the flying rate and so are not extra. There are no hidden costs with the club. The setup is very professional, and I had two brilliant instructors assigned to me, apart from anything else the flying was a lot of fun. The school has a fleet of about 20 training aircraft - PA28s, PA38s, 1 C172, various twins, and a Piper Cub.
Weather wise I haven't experienced winter there but it is supposed to be better than summer for flying, a lot of clear, calm, cold days. In the summer the Norwester can ground you for a day or two, but I never lost more than 3 days flying due wx. In any case, theres always the sim.
Apart from that, ChCh is a great city, very friendly people, lots of activities, a decent nightlife, and very relaxed atmosphere.
Looked long and hard for a place to do my flying and was delighted with my choice, don't think you'll find a better place in the world to train ...
The only catch of course is the conversion back to JAR CPL/ATPL.