Oz/NZ travel costs from USA view?
 

Guys tell me OZ is crazy expensive. As my first, or second stop on my soon RTW, what can I expect? cheapest hotels, cities vs. small towns? petrol? cheap cafes? campsite fee's? I hope to spent 3 months in NZ, and 6 in Oz, and don't wanta break my bank. also cost per day for diving/budget liveaboards?

oh, and are parts/tires for Suzuki dl650 available there?

Camping is your best bet. There are heaps of free camp spots along the highway which cater for the grey nomads(retirees with caravans)

Most towns have them with prices ranging from 5 bucks to 40 most have showers toilets and a camp kitchen

Dl650 bikes are all over the joint so parts are quite easy to get and the same with tyres, but not all brands or styles.

I did a full lap of Oz in 08 and took four months but I was fast in some parts. Your six months will be a good time span. Just judge the heat though, it is the wet season up north from nov to April and a lot of roads will be cut

Yeah, it was a bit unnerving, when I arrived in Oz for the first time, on a flight from Bali to Perth... my last accommodation in Indonesia had cost just about 8 euros per night, and it wasn´t even close to the cheapest option available. In Perth, I ended up paying about 80 euros for my first accommodation! (But later on, I think in Oz, I normally payed something like 25-50 euros per night, I was not carrying a tent, but camping places often had cabins, that I used, my GF was with me, so we split accommodation costs).

This was 5 years ago, I dunno which way the prices went since then, but probably gone up....

In general if you come from the US prices will be a lot higher due to the higher wages that are paid in Oz - plus the exchange rate for the US$ has plummetted against the AU$ - maybe four years ago 80 cents bought 1 AU$, now it hovers around US$1.05 to 1AU$. Remember we dont tip here as a rule - if you are in a good restaurant and the food and service was REALLY good you might sling them 10%.

Fuel - petrol - is about $1.40 a litre at present, but varies over the week with anything upto $1.60 and a low of $1.20.

Accomodation costs (roof over the head) from $45/night upto $120/night depending on where you are - motels/hotels/holiday units, thats all low end accomodation. In school holidays expect to struggle with finding somewhere.

Backpackers or youth hostels vary again on location and what you decide to use. Weblookup is your friend.

Food - cheapest food will be from the large supermarket chains (IGA/Woolworths/Coles), but you'll need to cook it somewhere. Although you'll find electric or gas BBQs in a lot of parks, some National Parks even have camp kitchens with BBQs and cooktops all included in the overnight camping fees.

Cooked food, cheapest can be from RSL/Leagues clubs, you dont have to be a member to enter if you are from overseas. Midday meals in a lot of pubs are cheap as well, but they will advertise that "Pay for one meal get the other for $1" that sort of thing.

Best camping spots - National Parks, just hands down winners as far as price goes (often free) - again do a weblookup. There is also a book called "Camps X" which lists free camping areas around the country, its a bit bulky for a bike tankbag, but there are 000s of free spots so can be worth it if thats the way you go.

Diving costs - again will vary according to where you are, my son paid about $40 for a days diving off Moreton Island earlier this year, I think he had to pay extra for tank recharges. Diving on the Barrier Reef in the popular spots will be more - but again try a weblookup as most businesses will be using the net to advertise.

Cost between Oz/Nz are fairly comparable i.e. 1:1.

From the USA you will find fuel prices way more expensive, but the USA fuel prices are one of the cheapest in the world so you will have to get use to that.

For OZ.
Camping is the cheapest accommodation option. Others have not mentioned 'State Forests' as a good camping option, usually basic but cheap to free. The 'grey nomads' camping options may not be suitable for a tent - they tend to travel with caravans or RVs so can use solid ground e.g. concrete to 'camp' on. Second cheapest are the backpackers/YHAs/Pubs.

NZ Costs
 

G'day.

Your US$1 currently buys NZ$1.14.
Hotel/Motel in Auckland could be anything between $90 - $130 depending on city or suburb. Can't comment on backpacker rates and campsites. Country Motels would be $75 - $ 120 depending on season and standard required.
Premium fuel is currently $2.17 litre.
Parts and spares for a DL650 should'nt be a problem at all. Big selling bike here, and a dealer in every town.
Kind regards.
Geoff.

Lots of good campsites - there's a "caravan park" in every town pretty much. If you tent it, the camp costs aren't that much different from the USA.
Fuel is quite a bit pricier than the USA and food somewhat more costly. Used bikes cost quite a bit more.
When I rode around Aus several years ago, my daily expenses (not including motorcycle or flight) were something like $50 US a day. That includes camp and park fees, fuel, food, and miscellaneous.

jeez louise! oh well, ill have a tent and camp stove, so I guess ill be ruffing it. why does it cost sooo much to ship bike just over:confused1: to NZ? almost what it is from LA to Oz. looks like ill ship LA to Sydney, then over :confused1:to NZ and back Oz. seems like theres shipping from Darwin/NA into Indonesia/timor, rite? I cant wait to go!!!

Fark me!!!! Somebody is getting rich out of fuel, as our cheapest here in the WA is around $1.50 and we pay over $2/litre "rural" :(

I wouldn't bother coming to OZ, it's full of flies, huge man eating crocodiles, massive and fast snakes, the worlds top ten venomous snakes, toxic spiders that will kill a man, the biggest and baddest sharks, great whites and bull to name a few, worlds top two most venomous creature "box jelly fish" and the irukandji, poisonous barbed fish in both fresh and sea water, Snails that fire a poisonous barb that can kill a child, octopus so toxic that if you're stung can send you into cardiac arrest, finally as the hole in the ozone layer is over us, you'll get sun burnt to a crisp and most likely get melanomas and die a painful cancerous death.

Edit....of the top 25 venomous snakes in the world OZ has 20 of them....

Then there is the isolation, there are more people in NY State then the whole of OZ, so when riding in the country don't expect to see anyone for days on end.

Oh and we also have loop snakes! fast but not that venomous, but, if your bitten out in the country region and don't get help, you'll die a slow and lonely death.

Drop bears are common and can cause serious harm if they drop on you, so don't park or camp under tall trees.

In all, a quite and lovely place devoid of tourists bier

As for NZ...
 

Fuel here is NZ$2.05/$2.20 per litre, and as someone said earlier, motels are around the +/-$120 per night. There are LOTS of holiday parks/commercial camping grounds, most of which have cabins at half the cost of a motel (cabin is usually one room with rudimentary kitchen and sometimes it's own bathroom. Mostly you use the camp facitlites). The cost is often around the $50-60. Backpackers can be really good, especially as many have single rooms so you aren't dealing with noise/mess/snoring/farting/early risers sharing your sleeping space. A single room in a backpackers with bathroom will be about half the cost of a motel or large hotel. Speaking of hotels, there's a big difference between what is considered a proper hotel ($150 per night plus plus) and your traditional "country pub". Lots of small town country pubs have meals and accommodation at great rates. I often stay in these pubs when I'm travelling here. You can find a bed and a feed for under $80.

Saying you are a traveler on a budget can often get you a few bucks off.

As for the camping option, there's plenty of good camping here. We free camp mostly, but it's probably easier for us in the South Island and we have a string of great out-of-the-way spots we go to.

There is a good network of Suzuki stealers all over NZ so you'll have no problem getting spares. The DL is a great bike for here, let me know if you want some good back roads to ride. Also feel free to get in touch if you are passing by Amberley (just north of Christchurch). I've usually got a cold one in the fridge.

Cheers

Nigel in NZ

Well explained

We in NZ have NOTHING that will go bump in the night and chew your head off.

Petrol down Cental Otago is traditionally dearer, when we left the cheap stuff was $2.36/L but being in Guatemala now I don't know where it is at.

Come and enjoy, the south island offers more for beauty etc than the north, I can set you up with a good few bed nights in Central Otago and Fiordland if you want, lemme know.

Hey Nigel, I used to live in Amberley on Douglas Road toward MT Grey.

Cheers Andi

Just a note on free camping. About every 10km on most QLD roads there will be a gravel pad. These are large flat areas which are used as storage for the large quantities of gravel soil and rock needed when road repairs are happening. Most are unused but these are great places to camp if you want quiet out of the way spots. If there are clean piles of materials there then they are good to hide behind, but you may get an early alarm call from any workers who rock in at 6am

Yip, that's we live here. NZ is great, but too many people. I really started to feel crowded after a few weeks.

If you "need" or prefer people, go to NZ. If you want to be alone, come to Oz. :Beach: