Auckland to Christchurch
Moving Service
CityMove Ltd is based at 16 Harrison Road, Mount Wellington, Auckland. This page is for people sending a house, apartment or office the other way — down to Christchurch or out into Canterbury.
That job is not a long local hour-rate. It is a North Island road leg, a Cook Strait crossing, then a South Island road leg. The quote should say how that is being done, and roughly when the truck will be at your new door.
Get an Auckland–Christchurch quoteCall 0800 126 128 | info@citymove.co.nz
What this move actually involves
Furniture does not “go on a ferry” by itself. Someone has to book the crossing, keep the load in one vehicle or one sealed container, and drive Picton to Christchurch when the sailing exists. Weather in the strait cancels sailings. SH1 south of KaikΕura still closes. An honest quote allows for that instead of promising a Tuesday that the sea does not care about.
On our side the file usually runs like this:
Auckland pickup
We load at your place from the Mount Wellington crew. Stairs, lifts and parking get asked about before the truck is sent, not on the kerb.
The crossing
The load stays with the job. We arrange the commercial ferry or coastal shipping space. You do not buy a passenger ticket for a couch.
Christchurch delivery
Offload at the new address and place items in the rooms you mark. If the driveway will not take the truck, we say so in the quote and plan a smaller shuttle for the last stretch.
Dates move when the strait is rough. You get a call, not a surprise on the day.
Dedicated truck or shared load
Two common ways to pay for this route:
Your own truck
The vehicle is loaded with your job only. Better when the house is a full family load, the date is tight, or you do not want the truck waiting on other pickups. Costs more. Delivery window is narrower.
Shared / part-load
You pay for the space your goods take. Better for a one-bedroom flat, a few rooms, or a piano-plus-boxes job. Takes longer, because the truck is filling other drops on the same run. Say so on the form if that is fine.
If you do not know the size, send photos or use the cubic metre calculator, then request a quote.
Christchurch streets are not all the same
Tell us the suburb. The truck we send to Fendalton is not always the truck we can get up a Cashmere drive.
Port Hills, Cashmere, Cashmere Hills, Lyttelton, Sumner, Governors Bay
Steep, tight, often no turning circle. We need to know about the driveway grade, a low tree, or a right-of-way before move day. Sometimes the big truck stops on the flat and a smaller vehicle does the last drop.
Inner suburbs: Riccarton, Merivale, Fendalton, St Albans, Addington, Central City
Character villas, townhouses, tight streets, building managers, limited truck parks. Write the floor number and whether there is a lift.
Newer edges: Rolleston, Lincoln, Prebbleton, Halswell, Rangiora, Kaiapoi, Woodend
Easier truck access, longer drive from the city spine. Settlement dates in new builds slip. If keys are late we can hold the load in storage and deliver when you actually have a door.
Further out: Ashburton, Darfield, Oxford, Leeston, Amberley, Akaroa
Still doable. Travel time sits on the quote. Do not assume a city-hour rate.
What we move on this route
House moving | Piano moving | Storage | Intercity and inter-island
Packing for a strait crossing
A Christchurch job spends longer on the road than a Remuera to Mount Eden shift. Drawers need to be empty. Glass and frames need corners. Couches get blankets and wrap. Anything that can walk across a deck in a swell gets strapped.
You can pack yourself and we take the furniture, or we pack the fragile rooms and leave you the clothes. Full pack is available if you do not want to touch a carton. Materials can be dropped in Auckland before the move if you want a week to fill boxes.
Questions people ask before they book
How long does Auckland to Christchurch take?
Count working days, not a brochure number. A direct job is often a few days door to door once the truck is loaded and a sailing exists. A shared load takes longer. Ferry cancellations add a day. We give you a range on the quote, then update you if the sailing moves.
Do I book the ferry?
No. You are not putting a household on a passenger fare. The crossing is part of the moving job and sits in the quote.
What if the Cook Strait sailing is cancelled?
The load stays sealed on the truck or in the container. We watch the sailing, shift the slot, and call you with the new delivery window. That is the point of one company owning the file.
Can you deliver to a new-build in Rolleston if keys slip?
Yes. Storage is the usual answer. Do not force a delivery onto a section with no power and no access. Tell us as soon as the date moves.
Do you have a Christchurch depot?
No. The yard is in Mount Wellington, Auckland. Christchurch is a destination we run to, not a second shopfront. If you need a local-only Christchurch move with no Auckland end, say that on the form and we will tell you whether we can take it.
Is insurance included?
Ask for the goods-in-transit wording with the quote. Do not assume a website sentence is a policy.
How to get a usable quote
Send both suburbs, the date you have to be out, and the size of the job. Photos of the big rooms beat a guess at cubic metres. Mention stairs, a piano, a spa, or a hill address in the first message.
Call us: 0800 126 128 | Email: info@citymove.co.nz
CityMove Ltd, 16 Harrison Road, Mount Wellington, Auckland 1060.
