BEVS

What's the actual travel time like from Wellington to Napier.
I can look it up on a travel calculator, but what's the reality like & what's the drive like please.

I'm trying to get up from Nelson to Napier but flying return will cost around $750 or more
The ferry crossing is $400 bucks for starters and that's without the 2 hours to get to the terminal and then the ferry crossing times and possible weather troubles ( seasick husband)

I'm now thinking to fly into Welly. Hire a vehicle and drive a return journey.

cheers

Genesis

It is 2 hours or so to Palmy from Wellington (want to pop in??) and then from Palmy its another couple of hours, maybe 2.5hrs. I have driven that way once. It is a very nice drive. Don't know if there is a more direct route from Welly direct. Look at www.newzealandnz.co.nz and put in the search box driving from Wellington to Napier, they come up with 4.5 hours without stops and they have a lovely route for you planned with loads to see if you have the time.

cappuccino

Bevs it is approx 5 hours and plenty of places to stop. You can either go SH2 then SH50 or SH1 and then other roads (can't remember the numbers) towards Palmy. SH2 will take you over the Rimutakas which is a hairy journey for first timers!

A lot would depend on day and time that you travel.

Robbie2010

And especially the weather!

I wanted to travel from Welly to Hamilton in October last year and had to abandon my journey because of a storm.

All roads north were blocked either by snow(S.H 1,4 & 5) or by landslips(S.H.2 & 3).

BEVS

Yeh ! I'm concerned about weather too.

We'd be travelling 23rd June . Returning 24th June.

I can get us in and out of Welly for around $400 . Still expensive but possible & it's the same price as a ferry crossing but a lot less time involved..
Onward flights in and out of Napier are mega bucks no matter which way round I try.

Nelson Auckland
Nelson Xch
Nelson Welly.

Wooly_Cow

4.5 hours and it's a very nice drive - good roads and quite fast (by Kiwi standards)

cleverchap

Took about 5hrs to go SH2 then SH50 and it is a beautiful route. Did a tiki tour of the East coast on the way to Ohope last December.

luvwelly

By the time you've paid car hire and petrol (It's a lot of kilometres), wouldn't the return flight look more economical. It is a good drive to do at least once though as the others have said. We've done it twice as part of a holiday - but only once in one direction in one day. If you are planning on driving there one day and driving back the next, without a day's break in between I think that would be very tiring.

JohnThePom

Heh hey, this rings a bell. Last October we drove down to Taupo in rain which was turning to sleet. Shortly after we arrived we were told that the roads behind us had all been blocked by snow. I think some cars got stuck for days!

WP

BEVS

I know luvwelly. I gave the husband all the options and the costs last evening and said to him to think about this over the next couple of days.

He really wanted to see England v Maori rugby game, Wednesday 23rd next month & as we've hardly seen any live rugby since we arrived in NZ I thought we'd just go for it.

I got the tickets no probs at $40 each and booked a $55 Top Ten cabin to make sure we had somewhere to sleep but it's looking increasinly like we just won't be able to get there unless we spend between $600/ $900 on travel. That's a weeks income to us & time off would be unpaid leave.

There are no direct flights from Nelson to Napier. That means a hop into Welly, Xch or Auckland = $400 best price to start with. Flights in and out of Napier are limited and all are over $120 a leg.

The ferry is $400 at least. So that would be a 2 hour drive plus 4 + hours on the ferry . Then the 5 hour drive up the North Island.

I then thought maybe $400 fly Nelson./ Welly and hire a car for just 2 days to get us up and back $150 + petrol costs . I think we could manage this timeframe but it would knacker us out. Even then the cost still come to $700

So - I dunno.

Browner_

The probs you are facing are exactly why I think its hard to live outside of Auckland, Wellington or Christchurch (as Ive said on other threads).

Its just too hard to keep up with any sort of events and culture or travel to things youd take for granted in the UK. You are destined to a life of wine tasting and sheep shearing events.

pricklykina

It really does seem like it will cost that much.
It's so hard to get from provincial towns in one island to provincial towns in another
Maybe save up and go to some of the world cup games on the mainland.
Or pay for a few more nights in napier and make a holiday of it perhaps.
It does seem like an impossible position though

BEVS

He is hoping we'll be able to go to some of the world cup games here & I don;t blame him at all for wanting that. Thing is , it's the money again isn't it. The cost of the tickets is .

We've put in for Nelson RWC tx which should be OK as we live here.
I also applied for the Xch 1/4 over 2 days but unless I can pull summat out of the bag I can't see how we'll afford it.

Steve1977

Hi Bevs,

Just a look at your post and i think i can help out here.

I'd do it this way if i were you.

Drive from Nelson - Picton, Short term parking is available in Picton at the council carpark between the CougarLine office and the Mercure Hotel at just $2 per day.
Get the interislander ferry @ 10.05 for $96 as 2 foot passengers (use discount code top10club1 for an extra 10% off) so - $86
Arrive at 1.15pm
Hire a car from Wellington - pick up on hutt road opposite terminal (www.121carhire.com) @ $42

Return next day on the 2.05pm crossing @ $96 incl 10% disc

Km's used in car is roughly 650 so you'd expect to spend about $70 on fuel.

So all in, excluding your $55 lodge at Napier - thats $297!!

Hope this helps ya Bevs!

BEVS

Ooo. Only just seen this Steve1977.
Looks like a bit of a goer to me. I'm onto it.

Have some karma and thanks for all the help mate.