Any Non-Drivers ?

monikah wrote: we are moving to sydney soon though and wont have a car at all so having a bit of a panic about how we will cope entirely on public transport

You'll be fine, the public transport there is great!!

DH drives and we own a car but we only use it on weekends to get to places that would be hard to get to on public transport (ie not many in Singapore) and we're using it a bit more now that I'm getting close to the end of my pregnancy too. TBH it's more "normal" here not to have a car than to have one, so I don't feel any pressure or get funny looks from people which is nice!

We chose our house based on it being close to transport links - trains for me and buses for DH and also close to a main road for taxis if we need them. I do a monthly shop for all the "big" stuff and get it delivered and then shop locally for fresh fruit, veg and fish. I take the pram or we have a "granny trolley" as well which is good for buying drinks from the local supermarket if we have a party

I've been home to NZ without DH a few times. With DS it was harder getting around in bad weather. I had forgotten how infrequently buses come in Wellington for example! And it's hard staying with family who live out in the burbs and drive everywhere when all you want to do is walk!

When we move home I would like to live close to a bus route and shops, library etc so that I don't need a car during the week for routine stuff. I do plan on learning to drive when we come home but I can't imagine just driving everywhere because I've never done it!

Also a lot of planning, so I look up times and things online so I don't get to the bus stop and realise I missed it by 5 mins have to wait an hour iygwim!

I must admit Wellington has pretty good public transport despite the frequent news of trains being down and what not!

Taxi's, while they're an expensive way to travel, if you organise in advance they can come with a carseat for your baby/toddler/child.

If you want to travel around NZ I would probably recommend the train tbh. You could bus but imo it wouldn't be as comfortable? Plus would take longer.

I definitely would love the freedom that comes with driving but it's such a huge responsibility and you have to be on to it all the time.

Buses in Welly are usually about every 30mins unless it's the weekend where it's about every hour. Some places are less frequent.

I never learnt to drive either. I am glad to see Im not the only one.

We're in Sunnynook.
It is a pretty middle of the road sort of suburb, lots of young families and older people, we really like it here.
It was so good when I couldn't drive as we're just around the corner from the local shopping centre, so had the supermarket, Dr, dentist, pharmacy etc all within walking distance.

I have to admit now I have the pram I'm learning to walk more I even went up town when it was wet the other day! a huge achievement for me. But there is NO way I'll be giving up my car though, lol. My parents live 45min drive away, IL's 20min drive away, so I still drive a lot.
I walk more now than before baby cos i don't have to carry stuff. If I only need a few things from the supermarket, I'll walk now, whereas I used to drive for a bottle of milk It's easier being able to put things in the pram.
Although I have a P&T, tempted to get the bags that can go on the sides so I can fit more. My nappy bag takes up most of the basket!!

I have a nappy bag that attaches to the handles of My P&T because it used to take up all the space in the basket!

If I want to catch the train anywhere I have to either bus into town or catch the bus for a 5 min ride to the next suburb and then train to town and get on another train to go to the Hutt or Porirua way. But I can catch a bus from the next suburb to Porirua but not the Hutt. Tbh that's all I wish they would improve because it is a tad isolating living out this way!

i dont drive dp does tho (sometimes to fast 4 my liking!!!) tho it annoys him sometimes picking me up dropping me off etc he is pretty good!! haha have never found the need to get my licence easier/cheaper for me to get bus to work etc. tho with bubs coming i think i best sort it out over summer - i do know how to drive i just don't have a licence
have really good and handy and regular transport where we are tho.
couldnt cope if we both didnt drive .. that would drive me crazy!!!!!

We have a nappy bag that attaches to the handles as well, it's a Skip Hop with the extra little clips so the bag doesn't dangle down to the ground if you hang it over the back of the pram. It's great!

We also have a hook that velcro's around the handle bar and I can hang shopping bags off that if I need to as well.

It would drive me nuts not being able to drive but then I came from a small town so needed to be able to drive to go anywhere decent and then now where we live is the sticks so if I don't want to go stir crazy I need to be able to get out of the village if I want to.

Makes a difference if you live in a big city, and at least if you wanted to, you can get about. Or a town big enough to have decent shopping.

I don't think you would be able to see much of the country if you tried going on the trains because pretty sure they only go up the centre of the north island so not a lot of detouring there...would have to do buses...personally I couldn't think of anything worse travelling long distance on buses, especially with kids. One other reason I have my licence, the times I have gone on buses long distance to visit my folks (uni days, didn't have a car) were crappo, one time the bus got a flat tyre in the gorge, the driver left the tv on for us to watch coz it took ages for a person to come to us, then the person left after fixing the tyre....bus driver tried starting up the bus...flat battery lol! I was so not happy coz I was stressed out from studying for exams lol....