[WiZ] This puzzle is set before COVID

[WiZ]

An elderly couple is renovating their 1950s house. They are concerned about money, so they take a two-week holiday in Australia. Why?

True story. No caveat. OAATP rules apply.

[LemonCurry]

"Concerned about money": Concerned about spending too much? concerned about losing money? concerned about getting into financial trouble?

[irishelk]

Is their 1950s house located in Australia? New Zealand? the U.S.? Elsewhere?

[WiZ]

LemonCurry

"Concerned about money": Concerned about spending too much? yes concerned about losing money? no concerned about getting into financial trouble? arguably yes by extension of the first yes

IrishElk

Is their 1950s house located in Australia? New Zealand? this the U.S.? Elsewhere?

No specialist knowledge of mid-20th century architecture or building codes in New Zealand is required to solve this puzzle.

[Doriana]

While in Australia, does the couple relevantly: save money? make money? buy renovation-related goods?

[LemonCurry]

Is their house something mobile, and they take it with them to Australia?

[trebor]

Is it relevant that they’re elderly?

[WiZ]

Doriana

While in Australia, does the couple relevantly: save money? make money? buy renovation-related goods? this

LemonCurry

Is their house something mobile, and they take it with them to Australia? no

Trebor

Is it relevant that they’re elderly? no (but it did let them spend time with their grandchildren)

[Sundowner]

Did they hire workmen in Australia?

[WiZ]

Did they hire workmen in Australia? no

[biograd]

Did they purchase a physical thing in Australia? if so a tool? a fixture/appliance? a building material?

[trebor]

Are the renovation goods significantly cheaper in Australia than in New Zealand?

[WiZ]

Biograd

Did they purchase a physical thing in Australia? yes if so a tool? a fixture yesish/appliance? a building material? yesish

Trebor

Are the renovation goods significantly cheaper in Australia than in New Zealand? yes

This is it, in essence. There's a slight bit of chicanery as to why it was possible to bring it back with them, and exactly why they had to accept this price discrepancy, but I think it's better to spoil now and contrive a more fun puzzle.

***** SPOILER *****

The property's windows were all original sash windows, requiring springs. They needed several dozen of them. They were not able to buy direct from a manufacturer as they had an exclusive deal with a hardware chain that existed in both NZ and Australia. The springs were $55 each in NZ, but their daughter in Australia notified them that they were $17 in Australia. Due to the number of springs, it worked out cheaper to fly to Australia, have a 2-week holiday with the grandkids, visit the amusement parks, and buy a bag full of springs from the Australian store, than buy them from the New Zealand branches.

Congratulations to Trebor and Biograd on the solution, and thank you everyone for playing1

[Doriana]

Nice one. I read that when the iPhone first came out, it was cheaper for people from Brazil to fly to the States and buy one there than to buy one in Brazil.

[WiZ]

I was just amazed at the discrepancy - Australia and NZ are roughly equal in terms of human development and GDP per capita, but our consumer prices can get ridiculous compared to theirs.