Closest easiest Wellington Car hire from the port

[hammo]

Need advice re car rental at Wellington from the dock . Would like to take the drive to Martinborough but having trouble working out a way to get to the car hire places on maps . Looks like we exit out the southern end of the Aotrea Wharf Cruise ship terminal - Omega Car rental is north of that and Apex and several others down inside Wellington city .All seem hard to get to and return . Anyone hired happily here ? 

[MicCanberra]

You cannot walk off the dock in Wellington, you need to get the shuttle (free) which will take you into the city. The drop off and pickup spot is on Lambton Quay close to the corner of Whitmore Street. The Beehive is across the road.

[MicCanberra]

It looks like there are several car hire places about 15-20 Min walk away or back by the ferry terminal. You may better with a cab from the drop off point.

[Ozwoody]

1 hour ago, hammo said:

Need advice re car rental at Wellington from the dock . Would like to take the drive to Martinborough but having trouble working out a way to get to the car hire places on maps . Looks like we exit out the southern end of the Aotrea Wharf Cruise ship terminal - Omega Car rental is north of that and Apex and several others down inside Wellington city .All seem hard to get to and return . Anyone hired happily here ? 

Have you driven over the Remutaka hill previously? If not be aware that when going over the top the wind can be very high, and can give you a fright if your not expecting it, other wise its a great drive up the Hutt Valley and over into the South Wairarapa area.

 

Regards

[hammo]

50 minutes ago, MicCanberra said:

It looks like there are several car hire places about 15-20 Min walk away or back by the ferry terminal. You may better with a cab from the drop off point.

Thanks Mic 

[hammo]

4 minutes ago, Ozwoody said:

Have you driven over the Remutaka hill previously? If not be aware that when going over the top the wind can be very high, and can give you a fright if your not expecting it, other wise its a great drive up the Hutt Valley and over into the South Wairarapa area.

 

Regards

Really looking forward to the drive Ozwoody , have driven all over the world in some pretty scary destinations road wise so cant wait .

[Ozwoody]

5 minutes ago, hammo said:

Really looking forward to the drive Ozwoody , have driven all over the world in some pretty scary destinations road wise so cant wait .

Its beautiful country, and a great look out at the top, even the drive up the Hutt Valley was nice, well was when I lived over there back in the 90s.

 

The first time I went over the Remutaka hill, I past the wind warning sign, shrugged I passed wind areas before, but when the wind felt like it was about to take my car for a ride, I got a whole new respect for the hill.😨😁

 

What attracts you to Martinborough?

[Belmont Babe]

17 hours ago, hammo said:

Really looking forward to the drive Ozwoody , have driven all over the world in some pretty scary destinations road wise so cant wait .

Hi Hammo, as a resident of Martinborough, I was interested in helping you with your query. So I tried to find out how long you are in port. Oasis of the Seas appears to be situated in the Caribbean. Do you mean Brilliance OTS in February? 0730 to 1730.

At best you will not be on the road until 9am, allow 90 mins at the least to get to Martinborough, so that's 10.30. You would have to be back in Welly by 3.30 to drop off the car and get back to the ship, (allow 1hr )and all aboard will be 1630 -1700. So you would have to leave Martinborough at the latest by 2pm.

This is presuming there are no traffic delays.

In the last 5 times I have attempted the journey since November, I have made it on time twice. Once the hill was closed by an accident, 6 hr delay, so I turned around and went home. Second was a delay of 2 hours and I was already on the hill, I couldn't turn around so I had to wait. Third time it was a hold up accident on the Wellington side at Kaitoke.

Personally, I wouldn't risk it.

The alternative route out of Martinborough to Wellington is via Palmerston North, add 4 hours for that. If the very worst happened, you could drive to the next port, Napier. The drive time is 5-6 hours.

[hammo]

19 hours ago, Ozwoody said:

Its beautiful country, and a great look out at the top, even the drive up the Hutt Valley was nice, well was when I lived over there back in the 90s.

 

The first time I went over the Remutaka hill, I past the wind warning sign, shrugged I passed wind areas before, but when the wind felt like it was about to take my car for a ride, I got a whole new respect for the hill.😨😁

 

What attracts you to Martinborough?

The wine , son is a winemaker here , and we travel to wine areas when ever we can . Hoping to hire a car and visit some of the wineries in Martinborough .

[hammo]

1 hour ago, Belmont Babe said:

Hi Hammo, as a resident of Martinborough, I was interested in helping you with your query. So I tried to find out how long you are in port. Oasis of the Seas appears to be situated in the Caribbean. Do you mean Brilliance OTS in February? 0730 to 1730.

At best you will not be on the road until 9am, allow 90 mins at the least to get to Martinborough, so that's 10.30. You would have to be back in Welly by 3.30 to drop off the car and get back to the ship, (allow 1hr )and all aboard will be 1630 -1700. So you would have to leave Martinborough at the latest by 2pm.

This is presuming there are no traffic delays.

In the last 5 times I have attempted the journey since November, I have made it on time twice. Once the hill was closed by an accident, 6 hr delay, so I turned around and went home. Second was a delay of 2 hours and I was already on the hill, I couldn't turn around so I had to wait. Third time it was a hold up accident on the Wellington side at Kaitoke.

Personally, I wouldn't risk it.

The alternative route out of Martinborough to Wellington is via Palmerston North, add 4 hours for that. If the very worst happened, you could drive to the next port, Napier. The drive time is 5-6 hours.

Yikes Belmont Babe , that sure is the downside to the extreme .Using your 2 out of 5 odds  Maybe we should just stay on the ship - thinking thats risky too.

[Jean C]

Do you also visit the South Island? That might be a better option for a winery visit?

[OzKiwiJJ]

Have you looked into doing a wine tour to Martinborough? These ones https://www.martinboroughwinetours.co.nz/ seem to operate from Featherstone Railway station so you'd travel by train from Wellington which would eliminate the risk of traffic problems on the Rimutakas. Hopefully the train timetables would work with the cruise arrival and departures times.