MOSO

Thanks for your great responses. I'm really looking forward to getting there - we leave in 4 weeks

I'm sure the commute in NZ will be far more interesting than the one from Hertfordshire and couldn't be any worse for delays. It's marginally improved from Essex, going past the new Olympic stadium and strange shaped swimming pool complex at Stratford- but not much!

I would love to meet up with people when we get there especially as I'll be by myself with the kids until Christmas as my husband has to work in the UK until then. I have a girl aged 9 and a boy aged 7.

One month and counting....

kiwichicks

Yes we can answer the question, both of us work in Wellington on the Terrace and we commute in the car
Due to still needing childcare and the breakfast club not open till 7am, we can hit rush hour mainly at the gorge and the journey takes 50-60mins
Two morning we set off at 6.30pm and many times arrive at the office just after 7am
The station is situated on the right from coastlands, coming in from Wellington, but there is buses from around 6am, to arrive at the station to connect with the train
To be honest we never tire of the commute and worth the price to live on the coast

D

Rosiesue

Hi again,

My Husband commutes to Wellington daily from Waikanae. He catches the Capital Connection Train. The train arrives at Waikanae at about 7:25am each morning, and arrives at Wellington at about 8:20am - usually 55 min journey.. Now although this train is usually reliable and does not rely on the electric part of the lines, there is a lot of track that is single and not double tracked, this essentially means that if there is a electrical failure or signal failure then the electric units on the line in front of the Capital Connection may block the line. Also extreme weather can cause landslides or flooding which can block the tracks (and the roads).

Commuting in NZ from Kapiti is completly different from UK. You quickly get to know the other passengers on the train (from taking the same train each day), so there is a really good atmosphere, everyone says hi and chats.My husband has made long term friends from chatting to people on that train. There is a kind of relaxed atmosphere on friday afternoon as the buffet car is licenced! The views on the commute are spectacular, views out to sea, views of mountains and hills.. excellent!

The capital connection is slightly dearer than the other trains, but in my mind the extra is definately worth it.

Monthly ticket $309. I think ten trip ticket is about $98

Now regarding flooding in the waikanae area. From what i have read there is not too much problems with flooding around here, but there may be some isolated spots along the river run that could be prone to flooding, asking the local council offices about flood areas is the way to go, but they will only comment on a house you are interested in, i'm not sure about a general area ? maybe someone can comment on that?

When we first moved here rented a bach on the beach in Raumati as we thought that would be our ideal lifestyle. I'm really glad we did that as it made me realise that I really didn't want to live right next to the beach. We had night after night of the wooden house rattling and shaking with the wind and I half expected the house to take off wizard of oz style. We now live part way between the beach and the hills with a great view out over the hills. It works really well as it means we are within cycling distance (or few mins drive) of beach, river, hills, shops, schools and train station.

I didn't think that we would want to live this far out of Wellington, but as we moved over from the UK for a different lifestyle, then we did not want to just end up living in another city. The commute is a small price to pay for such a great lifestyle and it is a much easier and prettier commute than the UK

Wooly_Cow

Kiwichicks and Rosiesue - thanks for the info.

I REALLY like the Kapiti Coast so the info. regarding the commute is great. I have 3 kids, two of which are in High School and currently in Wellington schools (I find people get quite precious about which school your kids go to - although I find most of them are great and an improvement on those in the UK). Anyway we would have to consider if moving them yet again would eb a good idea but can't really afford to buy the house of a size and location we like in the city...

....and then there's the lifestyle and weather and......

Thanks again

Rosiesue

Sorry forgot to say. The door to door commute take approx 1hr 20mins.

5 min cycle to train at Waikanae (which he always seems to catch by the skin of his teeth as he leaves it to the last minute. Men!

55 mins on train

15 min walk to Willis St (where he works)

For Courtney place I would add another 5-10 mins depending on which end you work. I couldn't be bothered with the bus as wellington is such an easy city to walk through that it is normally quicker and less stressful to walk (unless you work miles away from the station of course). My husband takes his Bike on the train with him and is allowed to leave it on there all day so he can use it to cycle home in the evening. He could use it to cycle through wellington, but finds it easier to walk.

JasonSouthYorks

[QUOTE=Wooly_Cow;7859056]I think if you work in the Beehive you can walk from the train station - but I'm the same as you, I work just of Courtney Place (no not at Mermaids before anyone says)

Just in there on your days off Jan!!!!

Kiwiprincess

[QUOTE=JasonSouthYorks;7863344] Ok....so that's a bad thing? Best remember that

Charismatic

I'm a cynical git but I like Waikanae/Otaki/Levin/Foxton . The only down side is that it's a long way to go to get into Wellington now as the road is very slow and congested.

I'd sooner live in Otaki or Foxton and commute to PN for work as it'll probably be quicker and less stressful even if it meant earning a little less (though I suspect that factors like housing etc. would offset this).

cows_go_moo

Waikanae Beach is lovely, I lived there for a year whilst working in Pram. And the weather on the Kapiti Coast is SO much better than Wellington, etc! Raumati is the trendy bit of the Coast - more cafes and stuff and I think house prices are higher. Waikanae Beach is very sleepy - I loved living there! I'm in the UK at the moment but it is the place I would move back to if I could. Paraparaumu College is a good school for when the kids are older too (better than Kapiti College I THINK).

The following year I commuted from Wellington out to Pram every day - the journey took about an hour in the car. Good luck!

JasonSouthYorks

Not too sure about Paraparaumu College though!

MOSO

please elaborate...