In order to track our spending in each country we visit, we are keeping a spreadsheet of overall expenses. We have decided to keep track of our expenses for interest sakes, to help others plan a trip, as well as to make sure we do not run out of money!
We spent a total of 38 days between the North and South Islands of New Zealand: 18 Days in the North & 20 Days in the South. Our total bill for our New Zealand experience was approximately $5,600 which includes:
- Accommodation (hostels, campsites, & hotels – everyone needs a break once in a while)
- Food & Toiletries (the bare essentials – food, shampoo, soap, etc)
- Liquor (everyone needs a few beers here and there)
- Transportation (car rentals, gas, public transit, buses, ferries, etc)
- Entertainment (what we paid to do) and
- Miscellaneous items (clothing, laundry, showers, etc)
TOTAL COSTS – NORTH & SOUTH ISLANDS
- Accommodation – $1,260 (N: $904 S: $357)
- Food & Toiletries -$779 (N: $363 S: $415)
- Liquor – $168 (N: $94 S: $74)
- Transportation – $1,753 (N: $559 S: $1,193)
- Entertainment – $1,325 (N: $516 S: $809)
- Miscellaneous items – $312 (N: $66 S: $246)
AVERAGE COSTS
Our average cost per day for the North Island was $140/d and $155/d for the South Island. Our overall average cost was $148/d.
Note: ALL costs are for 2 people and in CANADIAN FUNDS!
FLIGHTS
We have not included our flight from Canada to New Zealand in the costs listed above to prevent skewing the overall costs of the country. Our one way tickets from Edmonton to Auckland, New Zealand were $2,600 for the both of us.
MORE INFO…
If you would like to view a a more detailed break down of our New Zealand costs you can view the spreadsheet here. If you have any questions regarding our costing sheet please do not hesitate to comment and we will respond.
Hi!
Is there a link to the spredsheet?
Stephen,
Thanks for letting us know the link was not working. Let us know if you have any questions or issues opening it! We hope the information is helpful!
Hi, this is great, thank you so much. My partner and I are about to do this in New Zealand, but just for 1 month. What was your cost in NZ dollars? And would you recommend buying those discount cards for hostels…are they worth it?
Thanks!
Hello Lynsey!
I am glad the information helped! At the time we left $1 NZ = $0.76 CAD, with that said our total cost in NZ was roughly $7,400 NZ. In regards to the hostel cards, it really depends what you are looking at doing. We only spent time in hostels in the North Island, we camped for the entire South Island, so it wasn’t really viable for us to buy them. Talking to other travellers some found them really useful and others did not. A lot of the cards can really restrict the places you are staying. It really is up to you…
Hope this info helps, if you have any other questions please fire us another message.
Jackie