The Heretaunga plain is flat, the two cities are twenty minutes apart, and there is almost no congestion worth the name. Getting around inside Hawke’s Bay is easy. Getting to Wellington is the part to think about.
The twin-city commute
Napier to Hastings is about twenty minutes on the expressway across the plain, and that single route is the spine of the region. Plenty of clinicians live in one city and work in the other; plenty more live in Havelock North or Taradale, which sit between them and shorten it either way.
There is mild thickening at the school run and at either end of the day, and roadworks on the expressway from time to time. That is the whole traffic story. Parking at the hospital and in both city centres is straightforward and cheap or free.
Cycling — one of the best in the country
The Hawke’s Bay Trails are a Great Ride: roughly two hundred kilometres of linked, sealed, almost entirely flat path across the plain, along the rivers and around the coast. Unusually for a New Zealand network, they connect real places rather than just scenic loops — you can commute, shop and get to a cellar door on them.
Combined with the climate, that makes this one of the few New Zealand regions where cycling to work year-round is comfortable. A good number of clinicians here do exactly that, and it is a strong argument for living in Taradale, Havelock North or central Hastings.
Buses
The roads out
Flying
Distances worth knowing
| Journey | Typical time |
|---|---|
| Napier ↔ Hastings | 20 min |
| Napier → Havelock North | 25 min |
| Hastings → Havelock North | 10 min |
| Napier → airport | 10 min |
| Hastings → Waimarama or Ocean Beach | 30–40 min |
| Hastings → Waipukurau | 45 min |
| Napier → Wairoa | 1 hr 30 |
| Napier → Taupō | 2 hr 15 |
| Hastings → Palmerston North | 2 hr 30 |
| Napier → Gisborne | 3 hr |
| Hastings → Wellington | ~4 hr |
Times on a good run. Add for the Taupō road in winter and for the northern route in poor weather.
Converting your licence, buying a car, and what a warrant of fitness and registration involve are national matters, explained once in Driving & licences.