I really don’t want to hear about the cost of gas in the U.S. Nope. I can assure you whatever you are paying, I am paying more. They sell gas by the liter. There are 3.785 liters to a gallon. At the time of that photo, where the price was “only” $3.50NZD per liter, I paid $141NZD or $85USD for about 10 gallons of gas, a little over a half tank. OUCH! To put this in perspective, I used to pay about $5 USD per gallon and I could fill my car for around $85USD. At this point, the price has risen to about $3.82NZD per liter. Based on my math, at $3.82/ltr, that adds up to $14.46NZD per gallon. In U.S. dollars that is $8.55USD per gallon. I am regularly shelling out $100NZD ($60USD) to top off my tank.*
The good news is that Matt drives an electric car and I only drive locally so, despite the cost, we are not feeling this too much. The more concerning point is that New Zealand is trying to not run out of gas. The government says that there is enough supply, but New Zealand imports all of its gas, getting it through other Asian countries like South Korea and Singapore. If they run short, so do we. I keep topping off my tank in case there is a complete meltdown of supply. Diesel is much worse, the and the cost of jet fuel is depleting the finances of the airlines. At this point Air New Zealand is pretty much out of jet fuel. They tell us that the cost has doubled and they just cannot afford to buy what they normally would. So they are cutting flights and costs where they can. This is significant because New Zealand has two main islands. Without a plane, getting from one to the other is doable, using a car and ferry, but it would take time. What a mess.
*Just as an FYI – I am terrible at math and I could be entirely wrong with my calculations. But you get the point.
A Yank Among the Kiwis 