Everyone's a little confused by the short amount of time in Christchurch, but could it simply be because of a delayed flight?
The plan was to get teams from Tahiti to Christchurch on TN 101, 17 Nov 0805-1255. They'd then connect to a domestic flight, arriving in Christchurch sometime between 4.05pm and 5.20pm. Sunset's at 8.33pm, so there's still plenty of time to film up the leg, ending just around sunset. Phil can then take a flight out the next morning (Christchurch to Melbourne 0630-0820, Melbourne to Bali 0920-1225, connections through Sydney or Brisbane possible too) and have the afternoon for his stand-ups. The teams leave in the evening for Bali, arriving the morning of 20 Nov.
But a delay on the Tahiti flight delays it by two and a half hours. Meaning the original Auckland-Christchurch tickets teams booked are void, and they have to scramble for tickets again. This results in teams having to take flights like the 7.30pm (it's 7.30pm departure, not 7.30pm arrival), arriving in Christchurch at 9.04pm, too late for any outdoor tasks.
So everything's pushed over to the next morning, and Phil misses his flight, giving us his late arrival in Bali (photo via Leafsfan and Itsmekrissybebe) after his replacement flight from Christchurch via Sydney to Bali, arriving at 9.06pm. Sorry Phil, no time padding to do your stand-ups this leg!
Since keeping teams in New Zealand for too long would screw up the schedule even further, I think they shortened the Pit Stop (or, as some may have suggested, eliminated it completely) so they can make the flights at around 4pm to Australia. Note that they did not arrive before 2.30pm, or they'd be on the same flight as Phil and arrive a day early.
So I don't think the short Pit Stop time in Christchurch was planned!