Day Trip Wellington - Lake Ferry (Wairarapa)

This chapter of this site will be a suggestion for a nice day trip from Wellington to Lake Ferry in the Wairarapa.. Maybe you will be in the neighbourhood one day to enjoy this trip.

Leave Wellington via the Highway. Take Highway 2 in the direction of the Hutt Valley.

Because it will be a scenic tour, leave the Highway at the Petone Junction. In Petone there are two choices. You either take the Esplanade along the seashore or you drive through Jackson Street and maybe stop for a nice cuppa and a stroll along the shops.

Continue your way and follow the signs Wainuiomata. Wainuiomata is a Wellingtonian suburb hidden in a small valley. If you don’t live there, you don’t go there, but it is worth to have a look. It is a sheltered area. You can drive the Coast Road till Orongorongo, but with a normal car you will have to drive the same way back. For this Day Tour I suggest to drive trough the valley till Homedale and then turn around.

On the way out of the valley you will pass a look out point. Here you will get marvellous views on Wellington Harbour and the Hutt Valley.


Like I wrote, I recommend avoiding the Highway. An alternative route is the “old main road” through the Hutt Valley. Leave the road from Wainuiomata at the first traffic lights and turn right here. This will be Waiwhetu Road. You will see the bus stops, which means that you’re on the main bus route through the Hutt Valley. Just follow the bus route and you will pass all the small villages. And all these small villages make up the Hutt Valley.

If you follow the bus route you will end up in Upper Hutt. Still keep on going as straight as possible and then finally you will meet the Highway 2 again. Turn right and follow the Highway 2. You will automatically go over the Rimutaka Pass. At the summit are a look out and a tearoom. On a clear day you will have great views.


I would not recommend have a coffee at the summit, but to continue and pick one of the nice cafes in Featherstone to have a coffee or lunch break. After the refreshments make a U-turn and drive 200 metres to Western Lake Road.


It is very good sign posted. Follow this road till you can’t go any further. On your right hand side you will see Lake Wairarapa. It is a very scenic road with some one-lane bridges. Almost at the end there is a junction. You can choose to go the Lake Onoke and Wharakauhau. If you want to make some great photos take the road to Wharakauhau. If you want to go to the Spit take the direction of Lake Onoke. Or even better do both. (It is possible to walk the spit, but it depends on the tide.)


Across the Lake you will see the village Lake Ferry. This will be the next goal.

If you have seen it all, return the same way until the East West Access Road. Follow the signs to Lake Ferry. It is a 45 minutes drive. Lake Ferry is small community along the coast. Don’t expect major tourist attractions. There are some picnic spots and there is a hotel/bar. Just enjoy the scenery and take a look to the other side. That’s where you were just an hour ago.

After this visit take the same road back but follow now the signs to Martinborough. It will take you around half an hour to get to Martinborough. Take some time to visit this little place. Have a stroll through the shops or visit a winery.

If there is some time left, you can choose to continue to Carterton. In Carterton turn left and drive back to Wellington via Greytown and Featherston. If it is already getting late, I think it will be wise to drive directly to Featherston and go across the Rimutaka pass before it is getting dark.

The Highway 2 will bring you back to Wellington again.

We really enjoyed this trip. We did not do it as a day trip but we stayed in Martinborough with friends and we returned to Wellington the next day, after a nice walk in the fields and a great lunch in one of the cafes in Martinborough. But I wanted to give you this suggestion for a nice day trip from Wellington.

New Zealand by train

This chapter is about a train trip that soon unfortunately will be history. Due to high costs the train service between Auckland and Wellington is not longer viable. This is really a shame. Before the service really is closing down we booked a trip. We went from Wellington to Taumarunui and back. It was a great trip.

We boarded the train at 07.23 at Wellington Station. I mention this boarding time so specifically because the train was supposed to leave at 07.25. Still a lot of people where waiting to be checked in. The closure of the operation of the train made a lot of people decide the make the trip and obviously no one was prepared for this. The train left 15 minutes late.

The train first passes the Wellington suburbs, like Tawa, Porirua and Paraparaumu. The first point of interest is the longest tunnel of the stretch. This is the 4th longest railway tunnel in New Zealand (and the longest double-track tunnel in New Zealand). It is the 4324 m long Tawa No.2 tunnel between Wellington and Tawa. It was opened in 1935 for goods trains on one line and in 1937 for all traffic.

Between Porirua and Paraparaumu the train follows the Kapiti Coast. You are able to see Kapiti Island. This is a Nature Reserve and bird sanctuary. I have been there twice already and it is a great place to visit.

Paraparaumu was the first stop. It took almost an hour to get there. The train continued via Waikane and Otaki to Levin. After Levin the train left the coast and went inland. The scenery was mainly green with of course lots of sheep.

After two and an half hours the train reached Palmerston North. A town with around 70,000 residents. After all the green meadows suddenly some high risers occur on the horizon. The train stops far from the city centre so you don’t see anything of the town.

The train continues through the Rangitikei plains. This is definitely not the most interesting part of the trip, but the huge amount of lambs running through the fields made it very entertaining.
Around Mangaweka the trip becomes really interesting. The train will pass 4 enormous viaducts in 45 minutes. The first, just before Mangaweka is the 7th highest railway viaduct in New Zealand. It is the 72.5 m high, 229 m long, Makohine viaduct between Marton and Mangaweka on the North Island Main Trunk Line. This viaduct is of steel girder construction and is a well-known landmark for road users of State Highway 1.

The second viaduct is the 4th highest railway viaduct in New Zealand (also the 2nd longest viaduct in New Zealand). It is the 78 m high, 315 m long, South Rangitikei viaduct spanning the Rangitikei River. It is the southern most of the 3 large viaducts on the Mangaweka Deviation, opened in 1981, between Mangaweka and Taihape on the North Island Main Trunk Line. I think this was the highlight of the trip. The views are spectacular.

The third viaduct is the 6th highest railway viaduct in New Zealand. It is the 73 m high, 160 m long Kawhatau viaduct spanning the Kawhatau River.

The fourth viaduct it the 2nd highest railway viaduct in New Zealand. It is the 81 m high North Rangitikei viaduct spanning the Rangitikei River. It is the northern-most of the 3 large viaducts on the Mangaweka Deviation, opened in 1981, between Mangaweka and Taihape on the North Island Main Trunk Line.

After the viaduct the train reaches Taihape and it start its climb up to the Central Plateau. Taihape is the gumboot capital of New Zealand. An iron gumboot is visible form the train.
The next stop Waiouru is the summit (819 meter) of the journey. When the train leaves Waiouru on his way to National Park you constantly see Mt. Ruapehu. We were lucky. Although it was not a completely clear day, we could see the top of the volcano, covered with snow. Magnificent.

Around 01.00 pm the train reaches National Park. Just before National Park the train crosses the highest railway viaduct in New Zealand. This is the 78.6 m high Makatote viaduct about 10 km south of National Park on the North Island Main Trunk Line.

In National Park there is time for a lunch break. The Station restaurant is doing their utmost to serve everybody in time, but nevertheless there was quite a queue waiting for coffee or something to eat. Their cakes looked great.

After 45 minutes the train leaves again. Directly after National Park is the Raurimu Spiral railway. A pretty impressing peace of engineering. The train needs to descend 90 metres in 5 km. Obviously a train can not do this, so a spiral has been built. Several times you see the train track going underneath the spot where you are. It is hard to explain.

Our final destination was the first stop after National Park, Taumarunui. We arrived around 03.00 pm. The train had half an hour delay. We really enjoyed the trip. I hope you enjoyed reading this.

We spent the night in Taumarunui. The next day we returned to Wellington with the same train again. Because we knew where the highlights were, we could enjoy the trip even more and we made pictures so we will be able to enjoy it again and again. And we are able to show some of the photos on this website.