Lower Hutt area New Zealand

[zoej]

Hi
My DH has just had a job interview for a job based in Lower Hutt near Wellington.

Can anyone give some advice on the area, schools, playgroups, shops, houses to rent, local facilities etc. We are also interested in other local areas like featherston, upper Hutt, Porirua area etc and what the trvel times are in rush hour back to Lower Hutt.

zoe

[anorak]

Hi zoe

I've never been to NZ but I have a very good friend who lives in Upper Hutt, I can ask her to post here if it helps.

[zoej]

Please, I expect to go out there if he gets offered the job on a fact finding mission before we move, but it is always useful to get advice from someone who knows the area.

[robinpud]

We stayed there in January. It was only a 15 minute drive into Wellington on a Sunday but a lot longer on a weekday. Can't tell you much more than that .. apart from my kids loved the jumping pillow at the Top 10 campsite! And Wellington is cool.. breezy..
NZ is lovely lovely lovely.

[anorak]

I have emailed a link to my friend so she will see it next time she checks her mails.

[bran]

Where are you moving from zoej? Whether you think rush hour traffic is bad or not depends on what you're used to. Friends of ours live in Lower Hutt, they moved there from Sydney and they used to think it was funny that people complained about the traffic because it really was quite light. When we visited from London it felt to use as though there was virtually no-one on the roads even driving into Wellington in the rush hour.

Our friends live in Avalon and they really like it there, good schools and plenty for the kids to do. Although they are planning to move back to Australia for better career opportunities.

[zoej]

we curently live in west sussex, and commute from Horsham to Crawley.

[bran]

If you're in SE England then I don't think you'll be at all bothered by Wellington traffic tbh. Half an hour would be considered quite a long commute there, and the traffic doesn't really stop in rush hour the way it can do here, it just slows down a bit.

There are some nice costal areas between Lower Hutt and Wellington and your dh would be going against the traffic (because most people go into Wellington to work) so the commute would be pretty quick. I know my friends wanted to buy along the coast, but they couldn't find a house they liked so stayed in Avalon which is where they had been renting.

If you're renting make sure that the house has proper heating as Kiwis seem convinced that they live in a hot country and don't need to heat their houses.

I envy you, I really loved Wellington when we visited. It does rain a lot though, and it's very windy. The people are very relaxed and friendly and the lifestyle is laid back, but the downside of that is that it doesn't have the open-all-hours culture that we have here. Everything shuts fairly early and you have to stock up over holiday times.

[welshmum]

Just got back from a month based in Upper Hutt, unsurprisingly down the road from Lower Hutt. Dh is a kiwi and his family are in that area.
The Hutt is a river valley that flows down towards the sea and the capital city. It's about 25 minutes from U H to Wellington, less from L H. It's a straight road and we drove it often and didn't encounter anything a like traffic jam as I'd understand it (am in London)
There are some great parks for kids in the area and UH has a great swimming pool complex.
What sort of life are you after? city? (so many good bits of Wellington to live in) semi-rural? (you could go over the hill towards Whiteman's Valley or towards Greytown - that all does make the drive a bit more of a pain - too many curves in the road for my liking.
If it was me I think I'd find a school that you like the look of first and base yourself around that. I wouldn't live too far away from a town as you could feel quite isolated.
Give me some more details and I'll pass on whatever I know - I'm interested as we're considering the move ourselves so were out and about sizing things up. What's your dh going to do?

[zoej]

I had spotted the swimming pool in UH - sounds lovely.

Do you know anything about normandale? Just seen a house to rent there - not sure about the school. Another area I get the impression was very good value for money is Wainuiomata, homedale, Glendale area. Do you know why it is cheaper?

Also what is with the small kitchens? Most properties I have seen have very small kitchens - mum who loves baking here! Is their lifestyle very different and in what way?

[welshmum]

DH says don't go to Wainui - it's a fightin' 'n drinkin' kinda place, it's also in a bowl of greyness for weather/light and has bad traffic going into it. He says Normandale has some fab properties with good views.
Mot kiwi women I know like to cook - guess it's down to available size of property.....they almost always have a utility room which is my aim in life

[zoej]

That's enough of a description to put anyone off!!!

One listing ammused me - UH - boasted it was close to Prison, Military base and shops!

[SSShakeTheChi]

Porirua wouldn't be my choice unless it's changed dramatically in the past 10 years.

[Piffle]

Avoid Porirua and Wainui, some bits of Lower Hutt are not great either CErtainly comapred to lovely Horsham

Worth looking at Newlands/Johnsonville, good train links to Wgtn, good bus links, nice suburban zone.

[Piffle]

Brooklyn Khandalah very pricey btw but have lived in both and they are nice Brooklyn very handy to central Wgtn

[Piffle]

I lived in a really decent bit of J Ville but it was 10 yrs ago is it that bad?
Great house cul de sac, nice playcentre and decent shopping

[slug]

CAT me if you like, I'm from Upper Hutt and have lived in Wellington, Stokes Valley, Lower Hutt and Petone as well.

[zoej]

Thanks for all the tips - It is great to start getting idesa of areas to avoid!

my email is zjuniper at hotmail.co.uk if you want to email me - I don't have the facility to CAT sorry.

What is Titahi bay like? Views look nice!

Do they have what we refer to council type houseing areas ?

Also are the spiders much to worry about? I know there are only 2 venomous ones plus the white tail that commonly bite. No snakes - nice!!!!

[RTKangaMummy]

When we were in NZ in 2002 there seemed to be quite bad gang fights, on the news, around Wellington iirc so I would be careful where you live

I may have got it completely wrong so sorry if I did

[SSShakeTheChi]

never had any issues with spiders when I was there