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Where's the cheap part of NZ?
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According to the web, I don't need a visa to tour the country for 90 days,
but I do need to prove that I have a ticket out of the country and NZ$1000
per month to live on.
NZ$ 33.33 is only US$ 25.00.
Could a person really move about the country and see anything on so little
money?
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That would depend entirely on what you wanted to do when you got here.
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What if he stays with you ?
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More than welcome....he might have to lower his living standards and
sleep on the couch (or I'll farm him out to a mate with more room?).
Personally, I'd be heading for the South Island for a look and blow a
packet of cash in Queenstown doing the adventure touri$m thing.
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If you were touring and staying in motels/backpackers you would need
more, but if you were going to stay put and live in a tent, it would be
possible (but defeat the purpose).
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I live within 150 miles of three national parks here in California, but I've
been to them several times and millions of tourists visit them every year.
It's wall to wall people and their screaming kids in Yosemite valley in the
summer,
and for some reason they don't feel the slightest sense of awe or reverence
for the beauty.
Gasoline is around US $3.20 per US gallon and it costs me about $75 a day to
sport tour "on the cheap", eating at chain restaurants and staying at the
cheapest motel possible.
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I always look for a Super 8, Day's Inn or Econo.
They might be a touch more than the cheapest but usually have
something to make up for it. Breakfast, pool and hot tub, internet.
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Yes, I have stayed at Super 8, Day's Inn, Econo Lodge, Best Western, Ramada
Inn, you name it, I've stayed there.
There is a range of quality from the humblest YMCA room shared with a
stranger to the five star Hiltons and I have stayed at all of them.
The quality of accomodations at the cheaper motel chains depends on location.
Urban motel chains can get pretty run down from usage by locals. Some of the
clientele may be involved in something illegal, or they may just be ignorant.
I remember staying at a Motel 6 near Tacoma. I was complaining to the manager
about truckers who let their diesels idle all night, disturbing my rest.
There was also a horse trailer in the parking lot and it stank of horse
manure. Who the heck would take their horse trailer to a motel?
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Before you visit NZ, you need to find out the answer to that
one, because it's not too baaaaaaadly off track :-)
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As I was walking away, a building contractor was asking the manager if she
would mind if he unloaded his truck into the motel room for security!
I learned to unplug the telephone at Motel 6 before going to bed when I got
calls
at midnight asking for the woman who had set up business there the night
before.
And, if you think that's unusual, there are many motels around New York City
who really don't want to rent to overnighters, they prefer to rent the same
room four or five times a day to "travellers who just want to take a short
nap".
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They can't get $ 250 / night for a dump, but they can get $ 50
for an hour, 5 times.
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Right. A short nap with a hooker.
Motel managers have told me that they have very little trouble with the
travelling public, it's the locals who cause problems.
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So it costs me about US $225 to go across the state to Laguna Seca for a
three day weekend, and that doesn't include race tickets.
Gawd, I remember one year I went to Laguna Seca and camped out on a lawn at
the local college and spent US $50 for the three days...
Another time I camped at the track, in the infield. The race fans never slept,
it was an all night party. It cost about US $100 and it was less than 10
years later.
So, I figure that it would cost me about US $2250 to go on an independant
sport tour of the western USA for a month now. I used to be able to do it for
US $1000 a month.
But, as I say, I have seen it before. All the picture postcards of NZ make it
look like godzone.
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It rocks. And I did the "boring" bit.
I stuck to the North part of the north island, and was in awe of the
beauty. Much of it reminded me of home (BC), but there are some really
really beautiful sights too. I tried to squeeze in a bike rental to do
a couple of days, but the weather and timing left me with the option of
a one day jaunt around Auckland in the rain. I passed.
The roads are beautiful. The limit is 100km/h on most roads that around
here would be posted at 50-60km/h. But beware - they don't give you
much grace above the limit. I have the paperwork to prove it.
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If NZ $1000 per month to live on sounds like wretched immobilization, does a
budget of NZ $3000 sound like freedom, or would I still have to count every
inflated penny?
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When on vacation, money is the only thing that runs out faster than
time. I've found that everywhere I've gone.
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I think the $1k living expenses is more of a govt. thing to stop people
coming over (down) here with nothing and working 'under the table' to
survive.
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