Carterton

Carterton is a town in the Wairarapa district of Greater Wellington, New Zealand.

Get in

By road

Carterton is on State Highway 2, which runs north-east from Wellington to the Hawke's Bay. The highway runs through the middle of the town and forms the main street.

Distance and times (non-stop):

• Wellington - 85 km (1hr 10min)
• Masterton - 15 km (15 mins)
• Palmerston North - 120 km (1hr 35mins)
• Hastings - 225 km (2hr 35min)
• Auckland - 625 km (7hr 30min)

By train

Metlink train services run between Wellington and Masterton, stopping at Carterton, five times daily on weekdays and twice daily on weekends each way. Travel time from Wellington to Carterton is 1hr 25mins. Tickets can be purchased at the station (if the office is open) or on board from the conductor; adult one-way $17, adult same-day return $22 (not available on services departing Carterton before 08:00)

The railway station is located at the intersection of Broadway and Wheatstone Street, a seven-minute walk from central Carterton.

By bus

A regular public bus service connects Carterton with Masterton to the north and Greytown, Featherston and Martinborough to the south (you may have to change bus at Featherston if heading to Martinborough)

Get around

Carterton is flat but the township is elongated (4 km end to end). Walking and cycling around the town is fairly easy. However, with little local public transport, you would need a car to access most of the district outside the township.

See

• 1 Stonehenge Aotearoa, 51 Ahiaruhe Road, Ahiaruhe (12 km east of Carterton, follow signs from roundabout), ☏ +64 6 377-1600. A full sized working model of an astronomical stone circle, like Stonehenge, constructed from modern materials, opened in February 2005. Guided tours take place on weekends and holidays but you need to book in advance. 

Do

Carterton is a short drive from a number of tramping tracks in the Tararua Ranges. There is great swimming in the local pools and many surrounding rivers.

• 1 Borderlandz Paintball (Borderlandz), 516 Belvedere Road, RD1 (5km west of Carterton), ☏ +64 508-786-822. Open weekends. Wairarapas only paintball field with 3 epic playing areas, bunkers, trenches and tunnels. Low Impact Kids paintball available. By appointment only. Only for groups of 8 or more except on occasional open days. Starting at $40 per player. (updated Mar 2018)

Buy

There are numerous farmers markets in the area on weekends. Otherwise the shopping in Carterton is minimal and leans towards the essentials.

• 1 Paua World, 54 Kent Street, ☏ +64 6 379-4247. M-F 08:30-17:00, Sa-Su 09:00-17:00. Jewellery, homewares and souvenirs crafted out of the multi-coloured nacre of paua (New Zealand abalone). 

Eat

There are a number of small cafés in the area with Wild Oats being one of the most notable

Go next

• North to Masterton
• South to Martinborough
• Southwest to the Hutt Valley, Porirua and Wellington