It took just one week for the economic shock wave from the war in Iran to travel about 9,000 miles to Ruatahuna, one of New Zealand’s most remote villages, where life was already tough before fuel prices shot up in March.
“We were told right there and then to fill everything up because our prices were going up,” said Huirangi Law, 34, who lives in Ruatahuna with her four children.
The village is in Te Urewera, a mountainous rainforest in the ancestral land of the Indigenous Tuhoe people on New Zealand’s North Island. Ruatahuna has no supermarkets or pharmacies and sits more than an hour from nearest towns on narrow, often unpaved roads.
With hardly any public transport, cars are essential and 4x4s are preferred. Fuel is a major household budget item.
So when the Iran war choked the Strait of Hormuz, a major conduit of global energy supplies, New Zealand was particularly vulnerable because it imports all of its refined fuel. The price at the pump of diesel has risen by more than 70 percent, according to government data. Gasoline is up almost 30 percent.
In the country’s poorer communities, including Ruatahuna, the consequences have been severe.
Families have cut purchases, including essentials. Many cannot afford long drives anymore so they rely on a once-a-week bus to the nearest town. Others try to do as much as possible in one trip, or car-pool with neighbors and relatives.
Ms. Law said the rising fuel prices had opened up “another world of poverty” for her family.
It now costs around 165 New Zealand dollars, or $97 — roughly double from before the war — to fill the tank in Ms. Law’s diesel S.U.V. She has Type 1 diabetes and needs to regularly visit a specialist in the city of Rotorua, almost two hours away. She used to make that trip every week, but can now afford it only once a month.
“Everything’s got to be crammed into the one visit into town,” she said.
New Zealand has continued to receive a steady supply of fuel but at a higher price. That is being passed on to retailers and buyers throughout the country, said Kelly Eckhold, the chief economist at Westpac New Zealand, one of the major banks in the country.
People in New Zealand spent about 15 percent more on fuel in March compared with February, Mr. Eckhold said, and they cut back on clothing, restaurants and travel. In rural communities, he added, the increased fuel costs likely cut into essential spending.
Dokes Hekerangi, 57, who lives down the road from Ms. Law in Ruatahuna, is semiretired and needs to feed a large family. The economic effects of the war have left him with almost no financial cushion.
In April, as diesel prices rose sharply, Mr. Hekerangi switched to a gasoline vehicle. Still, he expects his fuel expenditure this year to more than double last year’s. Last month, buying five gallons of fuel used up two-thirds of his daily income.
“The difficulty for us is prioritizing what’s more important,” he said: “Is it power, is it fuel, is it food, is it warmth?”
For a recent meal, his youngest daughter, Miakirau, 8, ate canned vegetarian meatballs bought on clearance. That day, Mr. Hekerangi grabbed an egg to make a cake with overripe bananas, one of the few bits of produce his family could afford on their last trip to town.
Mr. Hekerangi said that he and his brother coordinated shopping trips and pooled errands across their households. A cousin sometimes shops on his behalf.
For some, the soaring fuel costs have made driving impossible. They rely on a public bus that runs every Friday, leaving the village at about 8:30 a.m. and returning in the afternoon.
Renee Hekerangi, Mr. Hekerangi’s wife, drives two hours on a winding, bumpy road to her job as a health care assistant in a nearby town. She said some patients cannot afford the fuel to drive to the clinic anymore, and that she picks them up herself and collects their medications.
Rising fuel costs are also threatening livelihoods in the area. Brenda Tahi, the chief executive of Manawa Honey, said she was worried about the viability of the packing facility at her apiary, which is powered by a diesel generator.
She recently hired Serena Whitu, who commutes from the nearby town of Minginui, as a sales and production assistant. But within a month, Ms. Whitu found that her journey — an hour each way — was financially unsustainable.
“I pay more for gas than what I spend on shopping,” said Ms. Whitu, 46.
She is one of many people in Ruatahuna who are wondering how much longer they can cope with the economic crisis.
Ms. Law said it was hard enough living with Type 1 diabetes before fuel prices spiked. Now, she said, “It’s a little bit more to think about.”
John Yoon is a Times reporter based in Seoul who covers breaking and trending news.
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