New Zealand day 15

            As we spend 8 hours or so driving south you deserve some information about taxes in New Zealand, in the event you are thinking of a move. The top national rate on income is 33%, close to the top rate paid in the USA by all but a small percentage of taxpayers.  If that seems a bargain, consider what they call the GST—another federal tax, this one on all goods and services, amounting to 15%.  This includes haircuts, stocks, medical services, sales of real estate of all kinds, and just about every other transaction you can think of.  So when you buy your next home, think about adding 15% to the price, plus 15% to all the services you might incur in connection with the purchase.  Think about the additional property taxes levied by local “councils” on all property in New Zealand each year.  Think about how 4 million people in a country the size of Georgia and Florida combined can pay for all the free health care, highways, and education for its people with low taxes.  Think again about moving here.  But it is a beautiful country.

            We enjoyed some of that beauty as we traveled along the mountainous highway, passing dozens of rocky rivers on the way to the coast.  And when we arrived at the Tasman Sea, the scenery only grew more beautiful.

 

Along the Tasman Sea coast

  

            We stopped for a hike at a place called Pancake Rocks, where dozens of layers of sedimentary rocks built up over who knows how many years have created a unique scene.  We marveled not only at the rocks, but the water and mountains in the background, and the sea crashing onto the rocks to form caverns and an arch in the sea.  The country grows more beautiful with each passing kilometer.

  Pancake Rocks

 Pancake rocks up close

            We haven’t mentioned the numerous one-lane bridges all over the country, but you come upon them pretty often.  And we are not talking about side roads; it seems half the bridges on the national highways are one lane only.  You get a warning a hundred yards or so before you come up on one, with a sign showing two arrows.  One small arrow in red points away from you, and one large arrow in black points toward you.   Only the very brightest of foreign motorists is able to discern from this which direction has the right-of-way—or what to do when you enter one end of the bridge at the same time someone enters the other end.  And some of them are curved, so you can’t tell whether someone has entered the other end, which makes for a real thrill.  There is even at least one such bridge that is shared with a railroad, with tracks running down the center of the bridge.  And there is no sign indicating whether the train would have the right-of-way.  But even the most severely challenged of drivers should have no problem deciding what action to take in the case of a train coming from the other end.

 One way bridge shared with railroad

            We have finally arrived in Franz Joseph for the night.  Get ready for excitement on a glacier tomorrow.

Charlie & Tricia

©2013