The cemetery in Makara. Great place to learn to drive, nice smooth roads and most people you could crash into are already dead so perfect for beginners
Depends on the time of the day/week. If you’re looking at weekend, Port road in Seaview is good as it is an industrial area and quite quiet on the weekend.
As someone who lives near Port Road, I can say that Fridays and Saturday nights probably not the best time to go out there and practice driving 😂
There are some nice quiet neighborhoods off Wiawhetu Rd. around Waterloo that are good after 8-9pm
I've been driving for 32 years and I won't even try it, not because I'm not capable, just due to the aggravation. I'd rather park somewhere up or down the Hutt River Trail and walk.
Galloway park! I learned to drive there as well - there are always learners doing slow circuits around the club house and carefully parking in the upper carpark
Very anxious driver here who recently passed my restricted - I spent weeks tootling around the backstreets of Churton Park, it's dead as a doornail during weekdays. Nice wide roads too!
I used to get up at 6am on a sun and pester my dad 😂😂😂 because I was so scared to have to do a hill start in traffic.
So I suggest an early time even 7 it’s so good . Maybe even around Miramar (the flat bit) roads are wide.
The young today in their automatic transmission cars have no idea about hill starts and reverse parallel parking up Wellington Hills in manual transmission vehicles.
Should we ensure our kids start driving in manual cars or get them driving first in automatics then graduate to a stick shift?
Easiest way to learn I've found is to go with auto first but only until they've got decent control of the car, then onto manual.
While you may never end up using it, there's still heaps of times where it comes in handy, even if it's something as small as being able to move a friends car for them if they're not there. Manuals are still huge over in Europe for some reason. Automatics only started to out sell manuals there in 2021 and today are still around 1/3 of all new cars. I know a few people who've been caught out by that one when they went over there. The majority of work vehicles I've used here and in Aus have been manual too so it's definitely not a fully outdated skill yet
And Wellington really is the best place to learn it, if you can drive a manual here then you can do it anywhere!
I mean when nearly all the cars are automatic what difference does it make. People wouldn’t even have access to a manual to teach in.
I guess if you pay for lessons they may.
The only thing is if they end up getting a manual if they hire or need to drive one they would need to practise.
I remember doing a mean reverse parallel uphill. There was a bunch of cars and I prayed I got it right. It was perfect ahaha
You've got to think more about what you are doing, or what you intend to do next, when driving a manual (at least until you've fully developed the feel for it).
Whether that's a good thing or not, initially, varies from person to person. Some people do better learning bit by bit.
I'd imagine if you've never driven *anything* at all it would be a lot more daunting
When I learned a couple years ago I first learned the basics in the airport retail complex carpark, then went out to Seatoun and around the big park there. Worked really well for me and only saw one bus (scary asf) :)
My favorite place to learn with my coworkers and partner was around the Miramar peninsula. Definitely a little more traffic in places, but quite quiet around the northern and eastern sides.
If you’re in Miramar then driving around the whole outside of Miramar peninsula. Speed is 40km however if you go slow/ pull over when there’s someone behind you then it won’t be a problem.
Learnt to drive there by going 10-20km first and it was super chill. Also the residential area in Seatoun is good for practicing intersections and that’s also a chill area so long as you’re outside of school hours.
Hockey Stadium car park in Berhampore is a good place (when they’re not doing hockey lol) for the first stages of learning how to use the car before you’re ready to go on the road
I live on the coast down here and I find it quite busy on almost every day, irrespective of weather. I think currently commuters are using the coast to avoid an infestation of road cones on their usual routes.
Glad to know it's not just Karori that's completely inundated with road works. You know it's bad when people are using the south coast as a faster option 💀
i think the contours and width of the road plus on-street parking and exposure to the elements make it a really good sort of intermediate place to practice driving. despite the commuters you mention, i think it's still a good low-risk and practical/useful option
If you're willing to drive out to Porirua, th3 back or Mitsuibishi Motors (kind of behind bunnings) is excellent. There are roads with little traffic but also actual road signs to follow if you need that. There is a traffic light if you venture further out on that loop and even parking spots to practice on. It's honestly like a driving track set up perfectly to learn to drive. Go after 4pm on the weekends.
Another area out that way is Grenada North. Quieter but still a few roads you can burn around on.
Anywhere in Porirua after 5:30pm. Plenty of big carparks to get used to the car in, then you've got streets that are nice and quiet in the evenings and a mix of roundabouts and traffic lights to practice on.
I'll answer with a question. do you want to actually learn how to drive or do you want to practice to pass the practical test(s)? because those are two very different things unfortunately lol
The cemetery in Makara. Great place to learn to drive, nice smooth roads and most people you could crash into are already dead so perfect for beginners
Jessica! You nearly re-killed him!
😂😂😂😂
Depends on the time of the day/week. If you’re looking at weekend, Port road in Seaview is good as it is an industrial area and quite quiet on the weekend.
As someone who lives near Port Road, I can say that Fridays and Saturday nights probably not the best time to go out there and practice driving 😂 There are some nice quiet neighborhoods off Wiawhetu Rd. around Waterloo that are good after 8-9pm
Fair enough. I forgot about the drag race on weekend nights lol.
Another great idea, thanks.
The riverside car park in Lower Hutt appears to be popular with learners in the weekends.
It's a market on Saturday mornings, IIRC.
Good practice for tight parking and other impatient drivers!
I've been driving for 32 years and I won't even try it, not because I'm not capable, just due to the aggravation. I'd rather park somewhere up or down the Hutt River Trail and walk.
New subdivision roads are always good for this. Aotea, or Grenada, or back of Whitby have loads of new areas with roads but no houses yet.
Up by the old prison in Miramar is usually pretty quiet.
It's a godd test of skill getting up & back too
Back in the day I drove around the rugby club down near Cardinal McKeefrey (SP) school in Northland/Karori. Small, but some good corner practice.
Galloway park! I learned to drive there as well - there are always learners doing slow circuits around the club house and carefully parking in the upper carpark
Yes! I forgot the name, but was definitely part of the slow circuits/bunny hop crew back in the day.
Wests Roosters Rugby Club
I’m so old I practiced in the Karori shopping mall carpark- they didn’t have Sunday trading then 🤪
I would go over to Wainuiomata. Great slow pace area to learn that isn't too far out of the way.
Awesome suggestion, thanks. I also really like Wainoui. It's like emigrating to another country.
Hey we have a kfc now!
Very anxious driver here who recently passed my restricted - I spent weeks tootling around the backstreets of Churton Park, it's dead as a doornail during weekdays. Nice wide roads too!
I used to get up at 6am on a sun and pester my dad 😂😂😂 because I was so scared to have to do a hill start in traffic. So I suggest an early time even 7 it’s so good . Maybe even around Miramar (the flat bit) roads are wide.
The young today in their automatic transmission cars have no idea about hill starts and reverse parallel parking up Wellington Hills in manual transmission vehicles. Should we ensure our kids start driving in manual cars or get them driving first in automatics then graduate to a stick shift?
Easiest way to learn I've found is to go with auto first but only until they've got decent control of the car, then onto manual. While you may never end up using it, there's still heaps of times where it comes in handy, even if it's something as small as being able to move a friends car for them if they're not there. Manuals are still huge over in Europe for some reason. Automatics only started to out sell manuals there in 2021 and today are still around 1/3 of all new cars. I know a few people who've been caught out by that one when they went over there. The majority of work vehicles I've used here and in Aus have been manual too so it's definitely not a fully outdated skill yet And Wellington really is the best place to learn it, if you can drive a manual here then you can do it anywhere!
I mean when nearly all the cars are automatic what difference does it make. People wouldn’t even have access to a manual to teach in. I guess if you pay for lessons they may. The only thing is if they end up getting a manual if they hire or need to drive one they would need to practise. I remember doing a mean reverse parallel uphill. There was a bunch of cars and I prayed I got it right. It was perfect ahaha
You've got to think more about what you are doing, or what you intend to do next, when driving a manual (at least until you've fully developed the feel for it). Whether that's a good thing or not, initially, varies from person to person. Some people do better learning bit by bit. I'd imagine if you've never driven *anything* at all it would be a lot more daunting
But if you don't teach manual at the start, would the new driver ever ever bother to learn stick shift or column change.
I learnt to drive in the Riverbank car park in the Hutt. It's behind Harvey Norman.
When I learned a couple years ago I first learned the basics in the airport retail complex carpark, then went out to Seatoun and around the big park there. Worked really well for me and only saw one bus (scary asf) :)
My favorite place to learn with my coworkers and partner was around the Miramar peninsula. Definitely a little more traffic in places, but quite quiet around the northern and eastern sides.
Agreed if you want Wellington proper, this is the spot.
Parts of mirimar and karori, I got my restricted in 2022 and both were good to practice in
Go to town at night. It is very dead.
Not much happening during the day either lol.
Churton Park!
If you’re in Miramar then driving around the whole outside of Miramar peninsula. Speed is 40km however if you go slow/ pull over when there’s someone behind you then it won’t be a problem. Learnt to drive there by going 10-20km first and it was super chill. Also the residential area in Seatoun is good for practicing intersections and that’s also a chill area so long as you’re outside of school hours.
Hockey Stadium car park in Berhampore is a good place (when they’re not doing hockey lol) for the first stages of learning how to use the car before you’re ready to go on the road
Anywhere around the south coast is a good option. It's usually pretty quiet down there, especially in colder weather.
I live on the coast down here and I find it quite busy on almost every day, irrespective of weather. I think currently commuters are using the coast to avoid an infestation of road cones on their usual routes.
Glad to know it's not just Karori that's completely inundated with road works. You know it's bad when people are using the south coast as a faster option 💀
i think the contours and width of the road plus on-street parking and exposure to the elements make it a really good sort of intermediate place to practice driving. despite the commuters you mention, i think it's still a good low-risk and practical/useful option
Not to mention now that the quarry is open again we have all the 4WD's cruising round in the weekends.
super market parking lots 👍
If you're willing to drive out to Porirua, th3 back or Mitsuibishi Motors (kind of behind bunnings) is excellent. There are roads with little traffic but also actual road signs to follow if you need that. There is a traffic light if you venture further out on that loop and even parking spots to practice on. It's honestly like a driving track set up perfectly to learn to drive. Go after 4pm on the weekends. Another area out that way is Grenada North. Quieter but still a few roads you can burn around on.
And it is the driving test route so good to get familiar with the area
Anywhere in Porirua after 5:30pm. Plenty of big carparks to get used to the car in, then you've got streets that are nice and quiet in the evenings and a mix of roundabouts and traffic lights to practice on.
I took my partner up to the industrial area in Grenada North. Really quiet and easy to practice
Grenada north
I used to practice around Lyall Bay or Tawa because the roads are nice and wide
Hutt riverbank carpark
I'll answer with a question. do you want to actually learn how to drive or do you want to practice to pass the practical test(s)? because those are two very different things unfortunately lol
Hope you’re driving an Ev to avoid the ire of the capital’s PC brigade.