[Lara Croft]

Hi. After months of researching C/Ch, and deciding where we wanted to live (Rangiora / Kaipoi), I am having to broaden my horizons to include Welly, as I stand a better chance of getting a job there. I have masses of research to do, so I am looking for some starting points please!

Please can you advise me of semi-rural / small village-feel type areas that are an easy commute to the city centre (30-40 mins in the car), but are affordable for housing? I live in a busy suburb at the moment (Warrington, Cheshire) and want to move to a quieter, more backwater location. As I said, Rangiora and Kaipoi looked fab to me, in terms of open space, housing, schools etc. Where is similar in the Welly area?

I guess it never snows in Welly, but are there any mountains nearby, or is is mostly flat?

Thanks!
Jane

[SarahEDH]

Please can you advise me of semi-rural / small village-feel type areas that are an easy commute to the city centre (30-40 mins in the car), but are affordable for housing? . . .

The city of Upper Hutt might be worth considering -- IMO it meets your description. I like the fact that it has plenty of shops & services but retains a small-town feel.

[QUOTE=JaneAS;157079] I guess it never snows in Welly, but are there any mountains nearby, or is is mostly flat?


Plenty of hills in and around the city, and the nearby Rimutakas are mountains as far as I'm concerned.

[migratory birds]

Hi Jane,

You might look thru old threads with Wellington in the thread title or use the search feature as this topic comes up with fair regularity. Seems every month or two in the past year (including a very helpful thread just last week) there are members who kindly contribute extensive descriptions of Welly n'hoods and surrounding areas with merits and drawbacks.

Good luck with your search - we really do rely on others when we're making these decisions from afar!

[sizzlingbadger]

Have a look at the Wairarapa as well. Featherston, Greytown, Carterton and Masterton are all on the main railway in to Wellington. Masterton is the furthest 1hr 40mins but Featherston and Greytown are realatively easy at an hour. Lots of people are moving over now and all seem to do the train journey in.

[andreamatt]

Friends of ours commute daily into Wellington CBD from Waikanae (Kapita coast). They love it there and indeed it is very pretty. They take the bus, train and when the weather's good(!) motorbike in.

Andrea

[andreamatt]

I meant the Kapiti coast!

If you can, have a look on google earth which might give you an idea of the hills around here,

Andrea

[jess]

The Kapiti Coast is lovely. The commute would be a little longer than you specified - over 40 minutes - unless you were at the southern end - Paekakariki or possibly even Raumati depending on traffic... and how fast you drive if you go by car.

Pukerua Bay with a quicker commute to Welly and a little higher housing prices is where it firsts starts to feel more rural coming north on SH1 to me. It's the last town before you get to the Kapiti Coast itself. Unfortunately it doesn't have its own grocery and such I believe, unlike the other towns. But it's a just 5 minute drive down the SH1 to New World.

Houses tend to get cheaper the further north you go, because the commute is longer. At the moment the train only runs several times a day up to Paraparaumu. North of there the train comes in and out only once a day.

If you do consider Kapiti seriously and you look at Raumati, Paraparaumu, or Oataihanga, be sure to find out about the Western Link Rd and where it will go if you are buying a house. Not such an issue if you're renting.

From Kapiti, Mt. Ruapehu is about a 3 hour drive. Snow and skiing there - when it's not erupting. :roll

[PECJ]

We live in Whitby and the little village at the end of the inlet is called Pauatahanui. The best way into town is to either car pool or better catch the train (10 mins from Pauatahanui (locals pronounce that patter new ee) to Paremata train station) - time about 25 mins from Paremata to Central Welly. Property can be a little pricey but the views are great!

[Chiba]

We drove up to Kapiti (Parapatherapper or something :)) as part of our recce, and were really surprised by how very rural it is. From our pre-recce viewpoint (in a galaxy far far away) we'd put it on our shortlist, but once we took a look we realised it was just too far out and quiet for us. Beautiful, sure, but we felt that such a huge change would have been too stressful. Moving stress goes both ways - moving from a huge city to a very quiet place is tough too. Also, we'd equated UK rural and NZ rural, but they're quite different. I'm really glad we did a recce though - it made us realise that it's easy to invent these places in your head before seeing them. So, Kapiti might suit you if you want a very rural place - it's commutable by train/car, albeit perhaps slightly over your time limit. Plimmerton and the bay at Whitby (on the way up to Kapiti) also seemed really peaceful too, and half an hour on the train.

[Questor]

It must be where I come from in the UK, but I don't think of the Kapiti Coast as particularly rural, it's my no means mega-urban, but it's not really quiet either.
I think of it as the best of both worlds!
Catie does the commute to Petone (round the harbour) in about 45 minutes, admittedly not quite in rush hour, but it's certainly doable

Jon

[pinkpiggy]

Hi

You might want to take a look at the thread below. It's one I saved before we came out to NZ and were looking at Wellington. We now live in Hamilton.

http://www.emigratenz.org/forum/showthread.php?t=9439&highlight=place+live+wellington

[Lara Croft]

Loads more info here - thanks everyone :)

Jane