Now that our time down under is finished and our trip is nearly complete, I thought I’d write down a few observations from my perspective. So here they are, in no particular order.
New Zealand is a country of great natural beauty. Each region of the country seems to offer scenery that is magical and unique. In a way, the sights of New Zealand remind me of many parts of Canada. However, in New Zealand, you can see all of those sights inside a much smaller geographic area. It’s like having the Canadian Pacific coast, the Rocky mountains (on a smaller scale), the Athabasca glacier, and the Ontario Great Lakes rocks and rivers all compressed into an area the size of a small Canadian province!
Gasoline is expensive! In Canada, we complain when the gas price hits $0.90/Litre. In New Zealand, I never saw it below $1.81/Litre, and even paid $2.05 on the west coast of the South Island! Also, don’t expect your vehicle to get the same mileage as in North America. Due to the constant curves and hills in the roads, you’ll be switching between the accelerator and the brake a lot.
The kiwis are a very friendly and helpful people.
Food is expensive. I recall one grocery store in New Zealand where we paid $10.50 for a 12-pack of Diet Coke! I know that 1.00 NZD = 0.70 CAD, but still, in Canada you can find cases 3 for $10.
As with groceries, restaurant meals are expensive. After factoring in exchange rates and tipping (which you do not do in New Zealand), they seem to cost about 50% more in both Australia and New Zealand than in Canada. The other difference is that in Canada, you only pay for your Diet Coke once. I don’t recall anywhere in New Zealand or Australia with free refills on drinks at restaurants, and that Coke generally costs about $4.00. If you want a second drink, the cost difference will increase.
The roads are an interesting experience. Divided freeways are rare, and generally only exist around the largest cities. The rest of the time, the roads are narrower than what we’re used to in Canada, they’re twisty, have lots of single-lane bridges (and sometimes no bridges at all), and guard rails are not terribly common. You just can’t cover the same distance in the same amount of time as in North America. I suppose that’s fine, because we weren’t ever in a hurry. It also added to the excitement of the drive. And speaking of travel time, these narrow and twisty roads generally have speed limits of 100 km/h, but except on the rare straight portions, we didn’t get going that fast. Perhaps if we rented a smaller car instead of the SUV, we might have made better time, but it was worth it to ride in comfort and to be able to sit up higher to take in better views.
I found it interesting that each and every electrical outlet has a little switch to turn it on. I suppose this is a safety requirement, but it was rather annoying, especially when housekeeping staff at the motels would go around and turn off the outlets you turned on to use. Also, with so many switches in an unfamiliar motel room, you have to be careful you don’t accidentally turn off your refrigerator or microwave when trying to plug in the coffee pot! And one more difference… switches here are generally flipped down to turn on a device, not up.
One thing I’m looking forward to when I get home is a cup of coffee. There are many things about New Zealand and Australia that are similar to North America. Fashion trends, language and television shows are basically the same as I’m used to back in Canada. However, the coffee here is much stronger than I would like (and much more expensive than I would like), and with too many fancy swirls and foam—perhaps it’s more European (I’ve been to Europe, and I hated the coffee there too)? In fact, the best coffee I had over the entire trip, were the cups of instant coffee I made in the hotel room each morning! I’m looking forward to brewing my own cup when I return to Canada.