New Zealand is a wonderful country to visit and spend 4 weeks. Great windy roads and expensive food. While the exchange rate as of this writing is about $1.40 U.S. dollar to $1.00 New Zealand dollar it is a pretty good value. Or is it really?
LSJ in Milford Sound New Zealand
A typical menu in an average restaurant lists a hamburger between $14 – $18.00 NZ dollars. Convert that and it becomes around $10 – $14.00 U.S. Dollars….this is an average hamburger. There is always a separate charge for bread. The main as they call it (ala main course such as: Roast Lamb, Steak, Pork, Fish etc.) runs from $25-$60 NZ dollars. The salad is not included…so add that in. And of course if you have a sweet tooth add in dessert from $8.00 on up. We even saw some desserts as much as $16 NZ in Christchurch.
Gas? I paid anywhere from $1.72 NZ to $1.97 NZ. Convert me baby and it becomes ( US gallon = 3.78541178 liters-wait a sec let me grab my calculator): $4.55 U.S. to a high of $5.21 per U.S. gallon.
We had a hard time getting a basic motel room for less than $90 U.S. per night. We were in the heat of summer (their seasons are opposite ours)…just coming back last week – the first week in March. The daily temperatures are pleasant enough during the summer. Never causing a heat rash with average daily temperatures (we only spent the month on the South Island) running from 65-80 degrees. Some of the rooms were a little stuffy AND only one had air conditioning. So be aware of that.
I’m not going to drop the rest of the info about our trip since this is a Science/Technology blog. But, I did want you to know why I hadn’t been reporting in with According to St. John. (most accommodations charge for the Internet and it is pretty slow)
New Zealand is a beautiful country with very nice people and since this was our second time there I’d recommend being prepared for some sticker shock. It makes you appreciate the U.S. even more to see that our cost of living for food/hotels and travel throughout the U.S. is very reasonable.
In the last year in the half I have visited NZ, Australia, France, Germany, the Czech Republic, Austria, Egypt and lived in Buenos Aires (most reasonable cost of living especially food) and I find the U.S. a very good bargain. Unless you travel you will never appreciate how the rest of the world lives, eats and survives with what appears to be less income in more expensive ecomomies.
By the way, my partner Cat Xander on her website..www.FreshVino.com will be reporting on her wine findings during our visit to NZ. She is a very good writer and you will also enjoy her website if you have any interest at all in wine.
Larry St. John
