Quake - a year on: 'We'll live here for the rest of our lives'

For Jim Wellacott, the move to Christchurch was for love.

"I've just got engaged and my fiancé, her parents live in Oamaru, and we wanted to move and start our family in Christchurch," he says.

Jim and fiancé Ingrid Dekker moved to the Garden City in November and found jobs quickly, Jim as a mechanical engineer and Ingrid as a hearing aid salesperson.

"It just came up that we both found jobs down here and it has just worked out to come down here," Jim says.

"We're renting in Ilam, but we are looking at buying a house in Burnside or Bryndwr. We're just looking around at the moment."

Christchurch is a lot cheaper to live in than Auckland and has more open spaces, he says.

"Everyone seems to be a lot more active. A lot more people like riding or running to work, there just seems to be a lot more people outside.

"I'm always out on my bike or we're out going for walks. It feels a lot safer on your bike in Christchurch than in Auckland. There I was always quite worried I was going to get run over, here the roads are wider and it feels safer."

The aftershocks don't phase Jim either.

"All the buildings that are left standing are going to be able to handle anything big.

"Everyone knows what to do if there is an earthquake. People don't stress out as much because they know what to expect."

Despite the quakes, the move has been positive for the couple.

"I've been loving it," Jim says.

"Apart from our first big earthquake at Christmas. I was fine with it, but my fiancé was little bit freaked out. Apart from that I've been really enjoying it."

The future can only be bright for the city, Jim says.

"If they are going to do half the things they say they are going to do for the city it is going to be an amazing city to live in."

The couple are to marry in Rarotonga in June, but they will be coming back to Christchurch to live.

"For the foreseeable future we will be living here for the rest of our lives."