On the road in New Zealand

In both Australia and New Zealand we have chosen to rent a car. In both places it costs around 300 kr. per day, which is quite reasonable. A car gives us great freedom to go wherever we want. In New Zealand we got an almost brand new car (4000 km) and in Australia it was a functional and cozy old bucket (500000 km) 🚙 They are booked several months in advance, which gives the best prices. The good thing about car rental is that it can be canceled 24-48 hours in advance, which gives good flexibility. We almost always rent the cars from the airport as it's almost always the cheapest and most convenient. We were planning to rent a campervan in New Zealand, but the prices have gotten way too high. During the coronavirus, many motorhome providers have had to sell cars just to survive. As a result, supply is tight compared to demand. But renting a car versus a motorhome also has its advantages. It has certainly worked very well 😎 The average cost of accommodation has been around $800 in Australia and $700 in New Zealand for all 4 of us. But the quality has also been higher in Australia. It has been everything from camping cabins to motels, hotels and homestays. All well reviewed. --- We drove on to the cozy town of Taupo, located on Lake Taupo. The lake has beautiful views of mountains in the background 🌋 The 'Crater of the moon', a geothermal hiking area, is sizzling and bubbling. The area is named for its lunar landscape-like nature. Whether it looks like it or not remains to be seen, but the hike was certainly very impressive 😎 The hike took just over 1 hour. There are a lot of geothermal hiking areas, but they all cost money. Some are really expensive. 'Crater of the moon' was luckily more affordable 💰 That's kind of the difference between New Zealand and Australia. In Australia, nature was free, but in New Zealand, nature costs in many places. In many places a lot of money 🤨 In the late afternoon we drove to Huka Falls (waterfall) and the dam. At the dam, the locks open 4 times a day, so we were ready with the camera at exactly 4pm 😗