Dollars and Distances, Both in Kilometers
Apr. 12th, 2024 01:21 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
canyonwalkerNew Zealand Travelog #13
Te Anau, NZ - Thu, 11 Apr 2024, 7pm
It's a well known fact for Americans (well, some Americans) that when we travel pretty much anywhere else in the world we have to convert distance measurements to/from kilometers. New Zealand is no exception to that.
Similarly, in most countries we have to convert US dollars to/from the local currency. (I say most because in some countries businesses cheerfully accept US dollars. A few even give fair exchange rates. 😅)
A few of us know that the km/miles conversion is 0.6. We remember it, perhaps, from physics classes where we used it on a daily basis. But what about the various currency conversions? New Zealand makes that simple for us US folks. The NZD-to-USD exchange rate is also about 0.6.
As we've been traveling in New Zealand the past several days I'm often stuck with a moment of sticker shock seeing prices advertised in "dollars" with the $ symbol. They're New Zealand dollars, of course, but my gut reaction because of the naming and symbol is to read them as US dollars. The momentary reaction passes when I remind myself, "These prices are in are kilometers!" 🤣
So, how good or bad are the prices after converting to metric? Well, it depends. Restaurant food isn't too bad. A main dish in a restaurant listed at "$24.50" on the menu, similar to what I've paid for dinner orders the past few nights, looks spendy at first (see above) but multiplying by 0.6 brings it to $14.70 US. Furthermore, considering that taxes are already included and there's no tipping— laws and cultural norms in New Zealand require businesses pay employees fair wages, what a totally no-this-is-not-socialism concept!— makes it equivalent to a "$12" menu price in the US. For what I've ordered for the pre-tip-and-tax equivalent of $12 US, I've gotten pretty decent amounts of dinner.
Not all foodstuff is cheap, though. My dearly beloved Coke Zero, like all sodas in most countries outside the US, is expensive. Soda fountains are virtually unheard of, so you're buying it by the can or bottle in restaurants. That gets expensive quickly. I tend to drink water in restaurants and buy my sodas at the grocery store to enjoy back at my hotel room.
Oh, and the money itself? Like Australia, the "paper" currency is plastic. And it's colorful. It makes me feel like we Americans are cavepeople with our monochromatic "greebacks" printed on... fabric.
Te Anau, NZ - Thu, 11 Apr 2024, 7pm
It's a well known fact for Americans (well, some Americans) that when we travel pretty much anywhere else in the world we have to convert distance measurements to/from kilometers. New Zealand is no exception to that.
Similarly, in most countries we have to convert US dollars to/from the local currency. (I say most because in some countries businesses cheerfully accept US dollars. A few even give fair exchange rates. 😅)
A few of us know that the km/miles conversion is 0.6. We remember it, perhaps, from physics classes where we used it on a daily basis. But what about the various currency conversions? New Zealand makes that simple for us US folks. The NZD-to-USD exchange rate is also about 0.6.As we've been traveling in New Zealand the past several days I'm often stuck with a moment of sticker shock seeing prices advertised in "dollars" with the $ symbol. They're New Zealand dollars, of course, but my gut reaction because of the naming and symbol is to read them as US dollars. The momentary reaction passes when I remind myself, "These prices are in are kilometers!" 🤣
So, how good or bad are the prices after converting to metric? Well, it depends. Restaurant food isn't too bad. A main dish in a restaurant listed at "$24.50" on the menu, similar to what I've paid for dinner orders the past few nights, looks spendy at first (see above) but multiplying by 0.6 brings it to $14.70 US. Furthermore, considering that taxes are already included and there's no tipping— laws and cultural norms in New Zealand require businesses pay employees fair wages, what a totally no-this-is-not-socialism concept!— makes it equivalent to a "$12" menu price in the US. For what I've ordered for the pre-tip-and-tax equivalent of $12 US, I've gotten pretty decent amounts of dinner.
Not all foodstuff is cheap, though. My dearly beloved Coke Zero, like all sodas in most countries outside the US, is expensive. Soda fountains are virtually unheard of, so you're buying it by the can or bottle in restaurants. That gets expensive quickly. I tend to drink water in restaurants and buy my sodas at the grocery store to enjoy back at my hotel room.
Oh, and the money itself? Like Australia, the "paper" currency is plastic. And it's colorful. It makes me feel like we Americans are cavepeople with our monochromatic "greebacks" printed on... fabric.
