daza

Hi

I am a newbie to this site.
My wife has accepted a job in Lower hutt and at present awaiting our visas and cant wait to get over,away from the stress of London.

I have read about Lower Hutt and what a great place it is to live in.
Can anyone give me more information about the lifestyle there.

I would also like to know if we need to access health insurance before we come over.

Charismatic

It's a suburb of Wellington, that said the shopping is OK (as NZ goes). Takes about an hour to commute by car (at peak) and a bit/lot more by train (when it runs) so most folk use cars (only costs a few dollars a day to park in the city).

Petone has lots of cafes and bars . The further up the valley you go the more state houses and peasants you see .

Just over the hill are some small towns which are mostly good because you can buy some rather nice boutique wines (you can even take the train so you don't have to drive home ) but also lots of small beaches to play on etc.

Wellington itself is actually quite a lot of fun at night, sort of depends on what crowd you like but there are bars and clubs that cater to all tastes .

What more do you want to know?

Browner_

Actually, its 20 mins from Lower Hutt (Waterloo) to Wellington by train during peak times.

Driving would certainly take longer than that, but less than an hour.

Whats this lifestyle you are looking for in Lower Hutt ? Its quite a built-up little valley. Personally, Id rather live out and commute into Lower Hutt.

Petone has a beach but you wouldnt go swimming there.

Theres a bowls club, art gallery and cricket club if you like excitement. And a very well developed boy racer fraternity.

daza

Thanks for that information,I would be looking at further down lower Hutt.

daza

Hi

Thanks for your reply.

I have two kids and I hope to get involved in a few sports in the area.

My wife has just accepted a job at the lower hutt hospital, so possibly looking in the area of Boulcott if possible.

Is there any other good areas in Lower Hutt?

MOSO

Hi

We've only ever visited relatives in Lower Hutt so can't say what it's like to live there, but it seems fairly built up (with a large shopping centre/cinema by NZ standards) and some parts industrial. Have a look at google street view or youtube to have a look yourself.

We looked at Waterloo primary school and it seemed impressive. I taught a girl last year here in the Uk who had transferred from Belmont school. Her parents were happy with it, although were not happy with Hutt Valley High school where her older siblings went (I'm not sure why) and they said they would send their younger daughter to school in Wellington itself when they return to NZ. They said they liked Belmont/Lower Hutt but sometimes felt isolated from Wellington.

Good luck in your decision.

daza

Thanks for your reply,its good to hear good comments for this area.I have also looked at both Waterloo and Belmont as they are both near to the hospital. My children are 6 and 9 so the school is very important to us.

nelsonpom

We used to live in Wadestown (Welly) and work in Lower Hutt. Going the opposite way to all the traffic gace me a 10/15 min relaxed drive to/from work everyday. Lower Hutt has a good shopping complex. Petone which is nearby is lovely and has a spring water well where locals will fill up empty containers and have free mineral water as the norm. Not sure about the schools sorry. Chose to live Welly as prefered the feel of it to Lower Hutt but thats just our preference. Good luck

Browner_

Plenty of football for kids (and adults) in the whole Wellington region, the only problem is a combination of the lack of pitches and the rain.

Boulcott is where the hospital is, and is popular for that reason, but by and large isnt posh and the houses are mostly pretty old. You may be able to afford a nice place backing on the golf course, but flooding can be an issue if you get too close to the river.

Belmont and the other hills can be colder and windier and cloudier on occasions. Woburn is well regarded but still pretty busy for me. The further you go up the valley, the less salubrious it gets and there are some areas you definitely wont be going.

luvwelly

Petone is the first place out of Wellington going up the Hutt Valley so you can't be any lower down if you see what I mean.

Charismatic

If you wan't a real laugh have a look at the Hutt valley train timetable, claims that you can get on an "all stops" train in Waterloo at 7:28am and get to Wellington by 7:50am . Any way my 'real world' experience of this service is a couple of years old, perhaps they have improved it since (the service used to be dire, always slow and late if they ran at all).

MOSO

Hi

As you will find there are very mixed opinions on Lower Hutt. On the one hand, it is busy, built up, a bit industrial and not in Wellington itself but on the other hand it has good facilities, house prices are cheaper than Wellington (apart from in the popular school zones like Waterloo!) and it's relatively flat so the houses often have reasonable gardens. Do be aware of flooding though.

This list of schools may be useful to you as you need to live in the correct zone in order to get a place.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...2C_New_Zealand

daza

Thanks for all your input,good news we have just received our visas today.

So does anybody know of a good Estate agent?

Browner_

Im not sure there are any good ones!

Do you expect to buy or rent? Advice seems to be to rent for a while, and I couldnt argue with that. Sales commission tends to be 3% to 4% here, so it can be an expensive mistake to buy somewhere you dont want to be.

Professionals and Leaders are pretty big in the area I think, or look at www.trademe.co.nz or www.open2view.co.nz

daza

Thanks for that,yes we will be renting hopefully in the Waterloo area.

Can anyone give me any feedback on Waterloo.