On the move

Exit flight booked to Cairns, Australia on July 19th. Air New Zealand has a pretty good sale going atm so I went ahead and booked onward travel.

I've been feeling a bit done here even though there is still quite a bit to see. The detour to the west coast of the north island hasn't really turned out - either it is raining or threatening to rain all the time and last night was quite cold. I'm currently in Te Kuiti and will head east today rounding in the next couple of days to Rotorua then on to Auckland and north of there. My hope is that the weather will improve to the north and perhaps I will try to obtain some short term accommodation in or near Auckland for 2-4 weeks in order to sell my car and prepare for moving on. 

I had a terrific time watching a rugby match with some locals a couple of nights ago at a camp ground outside Wanganui. They were part of the Wanganui Caravan Club on a weekend outing. This seems to be a favorite activity for people of my age group in this country. Probably because they are the only ones who can afford a caravan here... while simple campervans can be quite cheap, moving up to what we would call an RV or even a small trailer is quite expensive even an older used one will be north of $30,000. Anyways, I must say, rugby makes our version of football look like a sissy sport. It's a fast moving, high energy chaotic wrestling match for the most part and a lot of fun to watch.