Ross and Helen Oldham love Taieri Mouth. They love the sea air, the relaxed lifestyle and the great climate. But they do not love the cost of getting there.
The couple, who both work in Dunedin, run three vehicles, and face a weekly petrol bill of about $150.
"You naturally think about not driving as much, but what do you do? You've got to live a life," Mr Oldham said.
"We'd be spending at least 25% to 50% more on petrol from last year and it's got to come from somewhere.
"We went to Christchurch and back in one day and there goes $100. But you know that before you go.
"You have to weigh it up. It's part of . . . living out here."
The couple have lived in Taieri Mouth permanently for 10 years after having a holiday house in the settlement.
With Mrs Oldham working night shifts as a nurse at Dunedin Hospital and Mr Oldham as a garden contractor, they simply have to travel to get to work.
The Oldhams are just one of many couples in the South who are totally car-reliant.
Dunedin is the biggest city by area in the country, and people get around by car. It is the same story in the rest of Otago.
Taking the car to work, sports, or a friend's house is a rite of passage. But that may have to change in the future.
A 1.6 to two-litre car, which travels an average 14,000km a year, would cost $545 more to run than a year ago, because of the increased price of petrol.
Real estate agent Murray Holland, who specialises in property in Waikouaiti, said up until about three weeks ago high fuel prices were not having much of an impact on sales.
"But I think people now are saying, it costs so much to put fuel in my car, is it really worth spending all that money?" Mr Holland said.
"It is definitely a consideration now."
Petrol costs are about $100 a week to travel between Waikouaiti and Dunedin. A group in Waitati is looking at starting a car pooling scheme.
One of the organisers, Sue Hensley, said people were spending $10 a day on a round trip to the city, and many wanted to share those costs.
"It was driven by petrol, really. People are making a trip into town every day and then again in the weekend," she said. "It all adds up."
Registrations for the car pooling scheme start later this month and she said interest had already been high.
Berl senior economist Ganesh Nana said the days of cheap petrol were over, and the way of life was going to have to change.
"It's time to get the bike out," he said.
The summer holiday or the Sunday drive is also under threat.
Karitane Store co-owner Judy Cross said the store did not receive many visits from Dunedin people during the weekend.
She said overseas tourists called in more often.
Alexandra Holiday Park co-owner Janice Graham said so far people are still holidaying.
"I think people are cutting back on the day-by-day running of their vehicle. But they still want to holiday. Our season has gone right through.
"Maybe people think just coming this far [from Dunedin or Invercargill] is far enough to get away,"she said.
"We're more weather-dependent than petrol-dependent."
Flag Swamp Primary School principal Murray Oats is one man who knows the Northern Motorway like the back of his hand.
He lives in Mosgiel, yet is the sole charge principal at his school just south of Palmerston, a round trip of 120km a day, or 600km a week.
"When I first started [four years ago], I was spending about $80 a week . . . Now, I'm spending an extra $700 a term. And that has to come from somewhere.
"We have to cut back on some things," he said. "The reasons for being here have not changed. It is just a little bit more difficult being here."
Future price of petrol
Trying to predict the future price of petrol is a bit like walking through a minefield wearing a blindfold - extremely difficult and something only a fool would attempt.
So many different factors come into the price of petrol - weather, machine breakdowns, politics, wars, civil unrest, strikes, tribal disputes.
And then, sometimes, it actually comes down to supply and demand.
No-one predicted 12 months ago petrol prices in New Zealand would hit $2 a litre, and finding anyone who can confidently predict the future price is all but impossible.
Petrol companies refuse to forecast prices.
Berl senior economist Ganesh Nana concedes the future price is hard to predict, but he is confident the days of cheap petrol are behind us.
He said it was likely to stay above $2 a litre, especially if the New Zealand dollar declined, as was predicted in the long term.
Also, speculators were pouring money into oil and demand from developing countries such as China and India was also pushing up the price.
In pure economic terms, petrol had been underpriced for too long, with the price now finding a more realistic level, Mr Nana said.
Historically, this had meant alternative fuels and modes of transport had been neglected and the world was now playing catch-up.
What makes up petrol price?
So where does all that money go when you visit the service station and pay $2.01 for a litre of petrol? The Government takes about 73c in taxes and levies from every litre of petrol.
Of this, 18.7c goes into the Crown's consolidated fund, while 23.8c goes into the national land transport management fund, to pay for infrastructure.
From next month the money from the consolidated find will also go into infrastructure, mainly building roads.
The ACC levy is 7.33c, while the petroleum fuels monitoring levy of 0.025c pays for monitoring fuel quality.
A local authorities petroleum tax, of 0.66c, pays for regional roading funding.
With the goods and services tax at 22.32c a litre, it all adds up to a government take of just under 73c a litre.
The cost of transporting the raw product to New Zealand and getting it refined is about 5c a litre.
Oil companies in New Zealand have a margin of about 15c to 17c a litre.
From this, they have to pay wages, rents, freight petrol all around NZ, cover compliance costs, and, make a profit.
Retailers have a margin of about 4c a litre, while the oil companies would make a profit of about 2c a litre.
The rest, about $1.07, is for the actual price paid for the raw product.
As oil is a commodity, New Zealand is forced to pay international prices.
Exxon-Mobil, the world's largest oil company, made a record $US10.9 billion ($NZ13.6 billion) profit in the first three months of this year.
Production was down 5%, but profit up by 17% from the corresponding period last year.
