Looking at our budget, if we stay as long as we anticipated we’ll be over budget. Not only that, but we’re not going to be able to enjoy the South Island (which everyone here says is where the REAL New Zealand is at) in the winter without buying a significant amount of thermal wear, which we’ll just have to discard when we head to Indonesia. So, we’re going to be leaving NZ a little early.
We’ve booked flight from Auckland to Bali in late June. We’re going to visit the consulate in Wellington next week to verify Visa requirements, etc, and our Visa will only be good in Indonesia for 30 days. That’ll give us some time to travel to Jakarta and do a little exploring before heading to Malaysia. The American Dollar travels much further there as well, so we’ll be able to recover from our earlier expensive days here in NZ.
So, for the rest of our time here, we’ll be heading back up north towards Auckland. We will be in Wellington for a few days and I’d like to go to Napier (lots of art deco architecture there) and perhaps visit the old Hobbiton sets. Time will go quickly I’m sure.
Rhys Martin is an author and photographer from Tulsa, Oklahoma. His love of travel was awakened in 2009 when he sold all of his possessions and left the country. For ten months, he lived out of a backpack and explored southeast Asia and Europe. When he returned home, it was with fresh eyes for his home state.
As he drove the back roads of Oklahoma, Rhys discovered the significance of historic Route 66 to the greater American story. He has traveled all 2,448 miles of the Mother Road and continues to seek out the quiet Main Streets of the Midwest.
Rhys's travel writing and photography has been featured in numerous publications, including Tulsa People Magazine, This Land Press, ROUTE Magazine, Nimrod Journal, The Oklahoman and Tulsa World. He wrote the book Lost Restaurants of Tulsa, which features the stories of nearly 50 iconic eating establishments from the city's past. He has also been a contributing author to multiple Route 66-based travel and history books.
Rhys is the President of the Oklahoma Route 66 Association and serves on multiple boards and commissions related to the Mother Road and its upcoming Centennial in 2026. He loves to connect with people and share his experiences.
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Rhys' Pieces 
You have to go to Hobbiton!