KEY POINTS:
There are those that drive on "E for enough" around the East Cape with motorists facing some of the most expensive pump prices in the country.
The costliest fuel is probably on islands like Great Barrier and the Chathams where there is the added cost of sea-freight.
But back on the mainland, travel north from Gisborne around East Cape towards Opotiki in the Western Bay of Plenty and residents are feeling the pain of skyrocketing fuel. They believe petrol prices are taking too high a toll on one of the most economically deprived regions in the country.
Unleaded 91 ranges in price from $2.27 at Tokomaru Bay to a high of $2.50 at Te Puia Springs. The average price is $2.39. Diesel is most expensive in Waihau Bay at $2.07 with an average price of $1.99 a litre.
Robert Beckett owns Tolaga Bay Garage. He said prices had always been about 16 cents higher than in Gisborne - some 50km away. His station - the largest on the coast - sold about 20,000 litres a week.
But while volumes hadn't changed, behaviours had. "Traditionally, it was $20 fill-ups and everyone runs the cars on E for enough," Mr Beckett said. "But that's more like $10 fill-ups now. There's no public transport here, you can't catch a bus, train or ring a taxi, everyone has cars. There's no option here but to pay.
"Rural New Zealand is caught. If people are bitching and moaning in the cities, rural people should really be moaning because they've got no alternative."
At Te Araroa, near the top of the Cape, Liz Koia owns the store and the settlement's only petrol pump. She said margins were extremely tight. Suppliers set the price and she worked off a 6 to 7 per cent margin.
Brothers Rab and John Love farm between Whangara and Tolaga Bay. They joked they were "refuelling" over a smoko break when the Weekend Herald spoke to them.
Fuel was always something people were yarning about, John said.
Farm workers were dealing with price increases by taking advantage of farm discounts. The frequency of shopping trips to Gisborne was decreasing as many were making do with food at local stores even though the food costs were higher, Rab said.
One 77-year-old Ngati Porou kuia said petrol prices were destroying a way of life. A few weeks ago she had four tangi, up and down the cape to attend in one day - those cultural ties were not obligations that could be given up easily. "You don't have a choice, you can't not go. But it is hurting our people, and they're leaving in droves because of the cost of living."
BP and Allied Petroleum supply much of the fuel across the coast. Allied's general manager Mark Jordan said lower volumes and transport costs were the main factors that contributed to higher prices.
