[tutu]

Hi there!

My wife & I will be moving to NZ in a couple of weeks. We ended up with jobs in Wellington and Palmerston. Does anybody know whether commuting from somewhere like Waikanae is realistic? How are the road conditions? Would it take more than an hour? Getting a bit nervous about figuring out where we might actually end up living... Thanks for your advice! & good start into 2009 to everybody!

[beano_bill]

Hi & Welcome to the forum!

We have lived in Waikanae for a year now and commute daily to Wellington on the electric train from Paraparaumu. I personally found it hard to compare the train and car as they both took roughly the same time (an hour) if you left Waikanae at around 7 - 8 o'clock. If we leave earlier the car is quicker at around 35 - 45 minutes to the stadium car park.

Cost-wise they were also pretty well matched until the price of petrol went up but now that it has fallen to $1.32 / l for unleaded, its back in favour of the car unless you take into account wear & tear and not just the cost of parking ($7 / day at the stadium at the moment) and petrol.

The roads are OK to travel on, certainly not to an 'A' road standard IMHO, but there are comparable to other roads in NZ. You generally get heavy traffic coming up from Wellington every Friday during summer, which starts to back up from Pukerua Bay, flows nicely around the coast and then backs up again at Paraparaumu all due to the change from dual to single carriageways. It has been known for it to take 2 hours from Wellington to Waikanae :wah The road safety people also have a habit of closing over taking lanes on Bank holidays, but don't get me started on that otherwise we'll be here all day :exit

Wherever you live on the coast, unless it is Paraparaumu or Raumati, you'll get caught in this if you take the train as there is currently only one road north.

There is a connecting train between Palmerston North & Wellington that stops in Waikanae but it only runs twice a day (http://www.metlink.org.nz/timetables.php?route=PNL&hide=yes&date1=2009-01-12&day1=12&month1=01&year1=2009 & http://www.tranzscenic.co.nz/services/capitalconnection_prices.aspx) so isn't a solution for both of you. It's also quite expensive when compared to the electric train that runs to Paraparaumu.

Luckily, work has started on the double-tracking of the line which will also include electrifying the line upto Waikanae; this should be completed by 2010.

Shamefully (?) we haven't been to Palmerston North, so I can't comment on how long it would take you to get up there by car, but Wises (an electronic mapping service) has it at 58 minutes between here and there (http://www.wises.co.nz/d/33/Wellington/Waikanae/Waikanae/Manawatu-Wanganui/Palmerston+North+City+Centre/Palmerston+North/).

Feel free to contact me if you would like any other tit-bits - I'm happy to help.

Beano

PS If you haven't got your accommadation sorted yet, try www.quinovic.co.nz for Waikanae properties for rent. There is also a hotel here if you wanted to check out the travelling before you made up your mind.

[JandM]

Hello and welcome. :)

[JasonS]

there is a girl in my daughter's dance class who lives in Palmerston North, and it takes them about an hour to drive to Raumati Beach where dance class is held. that is on a good day, in the late afternoon, without any traffic delays/accidents.

laurel
p.s. welcome as well :cheers

[dilanium]

I say give yourself about an hour fifteen to and hour and a half to get to Palmy in the mornings. It also depends where in Palmy you're going. ;)

[jess]

beano bill's post is excellent - full of good info - but I must be a slowpoke, because I have never in 2 years made it into Welly from Waikanae in 35 minutes. My best ever time is probably 40 but is usually closer to 45 heading in to the stadium outside of rush hour. :o

[tutu]

Just wanted to post a quick and huge thanks for all your helpful replies!! :nice1We will be in NZ to check things out in a short time. Hope Palmy turns out to be closer to 60min rather than 90min. Tutu

[Lara Croft]

Waikanae is probably halfway between the two - for travelling times. I commute daily to Welly, using the train from Waikanae Station - I don't find it significantly more expensive than commuting from Paraparaumu - and it takes an hour. Driving to Palmy North takes about an hour.

The only train to Palmy North is the evening train from Welly, so you would certainly have to drive there! Unless you work nights....

J