A litre of petrol...

In Holland petrol is €1.56 per litre whilst in New Zealand it's about the same but in New Zealand dollars. That's about half the price so count yourself lucky kiwis.

Petrol is so expensive on the motorways that they don't even advertise the prices. At the smaller stations some unmanned you just use your cash point card and are played ads on a TV screen at the pump as you fill up.

One of the guys in my Dutch class, Ali comes from Iran and recently petrol has increased from 3 euro cents per litre to 8 euro cents per litre in the last few years.

Most people in Holland use bikes to get around or public transport. Of course if you live you live in one place and work in another town off the main rail links people still drive.

Every morning the news shows a map of Holland with all the traffic jams shown in red and measuring hundreds of kilometres. In winter it can be up to 800kms which is more than double the height of the country!