Come cycle tour in Oz: Our dollar has collapsed

[Vintagetourer]

Cheap time for you overseas cycle tourers to come Downunder. Exchange rate is very, very favourable.

And boy am I glad I bought my Thorn Audax before the Aus Dollar collapsed.

[in4]

Not that any of us we need much of an incentive. Here's another pretty picture for enticement purposes only!

[Vintagetourer]

Did I mention we have 11,000 beaches?

[geocycle]

That's encouraging from a UK perspective.  Came over in 2007 and got 2.5 dollars to pound, returned in 2010 (for the Ashes and found I only got 1.5 so it was a big change on affordability. Just got to hope the Chinese economy 'only' grows at 5% next year and my 2016 hols are sorted!

[jags]

to far for this kid besides all that sunshine and no rain  .
my dollars collapsed years ago so no worries there.

jags

[John Saxby]

Our colonial currencies are in a spot of bother, eh Graham? Mind you, ground Effect clothing from NZ is now somethin g of a bargain, although there's a limit to how much one can buy and wear.

As the graphs go down the rabbit holes, there are more than a few "told-you-so's" being heard chez nous, as our witless Prime Minister has tethered Canada's economy to the price of a barrel of oil.  Political leaders seem to have trouble remembering that commodities are volatile.  Maybe it's because they tend to play fast and loose with other people's money.

Like you, I bought my Thorn frameset at a time when I could afford it.  Still trying to work out an approach to cycling in Oz, when we visit our family in QLD -- have thought about leaving my Eclipse there.  Meantime, as the Loonie shrinks against the USD, the word "staycation" (="stay-at-home-vacation") has re-entered popular slang.  We'll see how it fares in about six months' time, when it's 30 below...

[Vintagetourer]

John I think that our narrow, commodity based economies are in deep doggy do as a few of us have predicted now for a while. All flavours of politics have flushed about 25 years worth of mineral boom up against the wall. It's been frustrating to watch. Norway has shown how to invest commodity capital. We have done the opposite.

Anyway, as you know I am a shameless promoter of cycle tourism in Australia, so this downturn is a brilliant opportunity to spruik doing rides here. And also to lobby for more investment in cycle tourism infrastructure. The New Zealanders are doing a brilliant job of this.

And yes I bought my Thorn Sherpa when I thought the exchange rate had tanked, but did even better with the Thorn Audax. Glad I did get them when I did. So pleased particularly with my Red Thorn Audax. I've already done about 9000km on it. Superb bike.

[John Saxby]

So pleased particularly with my Red Thorn Audax. I've already done about 9000km on it.

That's exactly how these bikes are meant to be used, Graham.  Good on ya, maite!

[Slammin Sammy]

I must be mad! I'm over in Yankeeland paying A$10 for a pint of ale!

You can read all about it here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/852857548160671/

[Vintagetourer]

You might have to switch to half-pints to keep up with the exchange rate Sam:)

[John Saxby]

Stuff happens, Sam.  Reckon you weren't paying for the beer as such, but "the brand", the overhead of the bar, etc., but almost certainly not for decent wages-with-benefits for the servers or the workers who produced the brew.

And was the beer any good?  (Sorry-o if I missed that info, but I can't log onto your FB page.)

Cheers,

J.

PS:  Cheaper beer in these parts, and usually better than what you'll get south of the 49th, 'cept for micro-brewery products, which will be pricier still, and that's where I think we came in, no?

[Slammin Sammy]

Actually John, I wondered if people not "invited" into my group could actually access the page through that URL. Sorry!

I set up a separate Facebook group to share my holiday posts, comprising those friends whom I thought might be interested, rather than bombarding everyone with my happy snaps.

TBH, I haven't described beer in the journal, and actually commented on how cheap one breakfast was in a small town along the trail. But for the last week, I've been in Washington (especially Georgetown) and Manhattan, and the prices have been eye watering! My wife enjoys a single glass of Pinot noir with dinner, which, at our local in Oz would cost A$9. At a restaurant at the southern end of the superb High Line in NYC, the same (maybe 50ml larger) glass was $US20! I don't usually succumb to sticker shock, but I was stunned.  Anyway, more fool me for dining in the tourist zone. 

Whenever I visit such expensive places, I always wonder how the locals can afford to go out, but tell you what, I've rarely if ever experienced crowds like these revellers, visitors and locals alike. The U.S. economy is back, baby! (Or may they've all decided to "live for today" at the fin de siècle!)

[John Saxby]

Thanks, Sam, no worries about the FB -- I don't have an account.

On the prices:  obviously the exchange rate plays a part -- we have the same problem as you do, with a wonky currency. (Ours has been overvalued for much of the past decade, a product of the demand for oil & other commodities from China. Canada has been exporting rocks & logs for most of its history--or beaver pelts, or grain, etc.--but the current gvt has sworn off any attempt to diversify, being obsessed with becoming a petro-state and tethering the rest of us to the price of a barrel of crude. Rant over...)

Then, places like DC and other big capitals can usually rely on a steady demand from government workers--though DC has some decidedly down-market neighbourhoods. And in the party scenes you've witnessed, you're also seeing the effects of huge inequalities at work. The flip side of that is the rise in precarious work and income.

I have found quite a few places in the US where you can get a good beer, sometimes a very good one, quite cheaply. They tend to be in small towns or out-of-the-way parts of larger centres. Friends live north of NYC, for example, in Westchester County, a very toney place indeed, but on one visit, we went to a nondescript strip mall, and in a small grill at one end, had some A-grade ribs and micro-brasserie beer.  How would you know about it if you didn't already know? You wouldn't, of course.

Anyway, enjoy the rest of your time in the States -- there's some good baseball on the tube, BTW.

[Vintagetourer]

John you will note how ineffective my shameless promotion of Australia as cycle-touring destination has been. I presented numbers, a graph and sound reasoning. But to no avail.
Sam went in exactly the opposite direction to our dollar.

[JimK]

My partner Wendy and I were just visiting Boston yesterday. I was rather stunned by Newbury St which was jammed with expensive shops and crowds of people carry shopping bags and wearing the latest fashions. Over here in the Catskills, things are a lot quieter. I've been out to Seattle a few times over the past few years... it depends on the neighborhood, but there is a lot of money there too! It is very unevenly distributed though!