New Zealand is a quite expensive country. All in all, my eight-weeks long stay did cost me some 6730,– Euros – less then expected/feared, but still quite a lot.
| Type | Expenses | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Sub Category | |
| Stay | Accommodation | 1 011,59 EUR |
| Food | 1 090,60 EUR | |
| Transport | 1 040,23 EUR | |
| Other | 1 096,27 EUR | |
| Flights | Long-haul flight | 1 287,29 EUR |
| Domestic flights (between North and South Islands) | 262,88 EUR | |
| Health | Insurance | 129,– EUR |
| Cancelation of stay in Dubai | 145,42 EUR | |
| Luxury | Siberia Experience | 197,03 EUR |
| Whanganui River Journey | 416,31 EUR | |
| Other | International Driver's License | 21,60 EUR |
| Neck cushion | 9,51 EUR | |
| Transit Dubai (Food) | 23,89 EUR | |
| Total | 6 731,62 EUR | |
This results in average daily expenses of 75,69 EUR. Compared to last time (with a daily average of 52,43 EUR), this seems to be quite excessive. However, the exchange rate was quite different: Four years ago, one Euro was worth 2,36 NZD (on average), whereas this time, it was worth only 1,57 NZD – a huge difference! Therefore, the whole picture changes when looking at the daily expenses in New Zealand Dollars:
| Year | Daily Expenses | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Acccommodation | Food | Transport | Other | Total | |
| 2008/09 | 29,14 NZD | 14,65 NZD | 28,92 NZD | 65,89 NZD | 123,96 NZD |
| 2013 | 27,99 NZD | 30,54 NZD | 28,64 NZD | 30,27 NZD | 117,44 NZD |
So, I even spent less this year compared to my last stay! Only for food, my expenses increased considerably. This is mainly due to the fact that I needed to buy special products (free from wheat, cow's milk, soy, etc.), which are extremely expensive. Moreover, this time, I did not always choose the cheapest product, but also bought e.g. (more expensive) organic food.
The main difference, however, is in the activities I did: This year, I mainly went hiking (which is, apart from transport to/from the trail heads, basically free). Last time, I also did quite a few tours. For these, the costs did add up quite quickly.