Bushwalk Australia

Just a quick cost analysis when i realised how cheap NZ was compared to tassie as I'm flying in from Sydney. I did the overland track in Feb this year and here's a rough break down of my costs: (i flew into launceston and flew out of hobart)

Syd airport train:..................$33
return flights to tas...............$300
taxi from Laun airport............$30
BackPackers........................30
Fresh supplies + gas...............100
Nice Pre-walk dinner...............40
Breakie in Launceston..............10
Bus To & from OT track...........100
Overland fee........................128 (i'm a student - otherwise its $160)
park pass.............................30
Boat Lake St Clair..................35.......( Personally i walk it)
Hobart backpackers................32
Hobart steak + beer.................50
Bus to hobart airport................12

Total Damage: .....................$930
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Now i'm also preparing to head to NZ and to be honest, i was lucky to score cheap tickets.
but these cheap tickets are so frequent that i think its safe to use the cheaper tickets as a base price


Syd airport train:...................$33
return flights to christchurch.....$300
Bus Christch - Qtown return.......$60
BackPackers..........................35
Fresh supplies + gas................100
Lunch & Dinner pre walk............40
Breakie ...............................10
Bus To & from track.................67 (routeburn track = $40nz each way)
Hut passes ............................0 ( I prefer to test one of my 10 tents)
Tent passes $15nz/night..........100
Big Steak at the end .................40

Total Damage: .....................$785

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Costs here can be arguable + / - here and there, but this is a realistic comparison for me.
Travel between tracks in NZ is significantly more expensive than travelling between cities. I managed to score a $1 ticket christchurch to queenstown!

and some tracks like the milford you MUST stay in huts at $50NZ/night so that can quickly add up to the cost, but even if you did do a few of those great walks, total costs wont be much greater than what it is in tassie. Tassie is still the best bushwalking state in Australia, but my friends were just shocked to realise that NZ isnt much more expensive than tassie and in some cases, can be even cheaper. mainly because you either got the Malaleuca flights at $190 for the SW or hefty $160+30 OT fees

This is only a baseline cost as i always buy more gear along the way but its useful for comparison.
and I always like to have a nice juicy steak before and after a big walk.

There will be a few little things that pop up that will even the costs out a little (like the $25 departure tax), etc; but by & large we have come to the same conclusion, and bushwalking is a major sport over there, not something at the fringe

To point out the obvious, but the OLT is the only track in Tassie with the big walking fee. Your Park Pass is good for eight weeks.

+ $208 for an Australian Passport to get into New Zealand.
You can usually fly Sydney to Tassie for about $200 return.

But yes New Zealand is a pretty cheap option.

You forgot to add the free extras you get in NZ:

1. Sandfly Nuisance Map

2. Congestion. (Although the OLT has this too)

Still a great place to hike.

this is actually one of the reasons i'm planning a Dusky Track walk.
It will work out to about $1100 AU per person overall however there are a couple of differences between walking in Aus and NZ that make it a bit more viable.

Huts - they're all very nice and well kitted out and you don't need to carry a tent (2.8kg saving in pack weight)
Water - being in Fiordland where they have 8m (yes, metres) of rainfall a year there is no shortage of water points (2-4kg saving in pack weight)

You can tell who the locals are when they're walking as they only carry a cup, not a water bottle...

Also add another $1.60 to your train fare for the international terminal
Actually if I'm heading to and from the airport (domestic) I often walk the 10 to 15 minutes or so up the road to Mascot station and save myself about $10 each way.

Airfares to Tassie are zero when you live in Tassie

But seriously ... did you also mention the favourable exchange rate? The Aussie dollar is currently $1.26+ against the Kiwi dollar. Maths isn't my strong suit, but that's better than a 20% discount on everything! My wife and I are heading there in September (again), and that exchange factor does make your dollar go further. (Beware: I think the NZ GST is going up in October, so that will erode some of that discount.)

cheers

Peter

Yeah but stuff is roughly proportionatley more expensive. Generally you come out on top but not by anywhere near the full 26cents in the dollar.

photohiker wrote:You forgot to add the free extras you get in NZ:

1. Sandfly Nuisance Map

Well this wrecks at least 10 days of my Chrissy holiday because I'll be on the west coast.

You can also claim back some of the GST costs of say a new backpack when leaving the country

Yep

I'll be claiming back GST on my new DSLR camera next week, when I fly to Christchurch

cheers

Peter