Pages

Sunday, May 18, 2008

You Don't Know How Lucky You Are

A few days ago the price of petrol went up - again - and our local newspaper published a list of prices from different countries.

In NZ dollars per litre (I have no idea how that works out as US dollars per gallon, but I assume the conversion is accurate):

United States $1.33
Australia $1.80
New Zealand $1.94
Britain $2.84
Netherlands $3.23

I will admit that Europe probably has much better public transport than the United States. But it is interesting that most of the complaints I've seen on blogs about high fuel prices come from the US. The Brits don't seem to complain about it at all.

Edited to add:
Maybe I should have converted those figures to prices per gallon. One US gallon is 3.78454 litres so by my calculations, taking the exchange rate into account , it comes out at $1.28 per litre in NZ dollars. A little lower than I said. And since our price has gone up nearly 10 cents a litre in the last week, we are now at $1.97 a litre for regular, over $2.00 for high octane.
I do realise that many Americans have to commute long distances with no suitable public transport, the whole lifestyle is built around cheap fuel. On the other hand, salaries are quite a lot higher in the USA or Australia (or just about anywhere) than in New Zealand.

(End of edit).

I'm trying (without a lot of success) to get up early enough to take photos before I leave for work, the light is lovely at this time of year. This is down by the river, I'm hoping to get back on a colder morning. When it is frosty, the mist rises from the river and the early sun shines through.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

We haven't been paying the true costs of gasoline for a long time. I think prices going up will wake people up to that and force them to be more economic about it ...smaller cars ... public transport etc.

Lovely shot, says me and michele.

Mike said...

I think the big complaint is how fast the price has gone up. We are paying almost a dollar a gallon more than we were this time last year.

Michele sent me.

Pat said...

'The Brits don't seem to complain about it at all.'
Many of us remember far worse times and we're used to tightening our belts and keeping a stiff upper lip.
And it gets incredibly boring at times:)
The photo is especially appealing. I'm sorry you have been missed - it's not nice is it? Michele says hi!

Bobkat said...

Trust me, we are complaining and there has been a small protest and a petition - all to no avail. The atmosphere is very much one of we have had enough of being ripped off! If only the UK public transport was better and cheaper outside of London!

This seems to be a trned all over the globe.

Michele sent me to say hi.

Angie said...

Lovely photo!

The price of gasoline here hovers at just below $4.00 a gallon. It's all anyone ever talks about. I just try to conserve as much as I can to make the most of it.

By the way, Michele sent me! :)

Joyce said...

Hi. Michele sent me. (Hi, Angie!! What a coincidence you're right above me!!) We're paying about $3.79 right now.

January said...

Gas is about $3.79 in Massachusetts. Americans complain because most of us can make small changes to how we commute but most of us have to use our cars. No way around it. I live about an hour away from work so filling up twice a week is making an impact in my finances.

And, we're so used to low prices that this was bound to happen.

Catherine said...

Maybe I should have converted those figures to prices per gallon. One US gallon is 3.78454 litres so by my calculations, taking the exchange rate into account , it comes out at $1.28 per litre in NZ dollars. A little lower than I said. And since our price has gone up nearly 10 cents a litre in the last week, we are not at $1.97 a litre for regular, over $2.00 for high octane.
Jan, two tanks a week is some commute! One tank full would get me to my further away job and back about ten to twelve times, I actually only do it three times a week. I do realise that many Americans have to commute long distances with no suitable public transport, the whole lifestyle is built around cheap fuel.