Freeley Speaking: Journey to rugby country

Members of the England squad at their welcoming ceremony in Auckland. Photo / Paul Estcourt

Discuss anything and everything to do with the Rugby World Cup with our nzherald.co.nz rugby community on Facebook.

Meet sports-mad Englishman Mitch Freeley, who is joining us for the Rugby World Cup.

So welcome to this, the first blog post. My partner-in-crime Greg and I are jetting off on an 11,771-mile journey from Luton all the way to Christchurch to follow England in the Rugby World Cup.

We'll be trying to take in the cultural sights of New Zealand whilst also attending England's four group games in Dunedin and Auckland. Aside from sightseeing, and the excessive photo-taking, we'll be looking to offer a differing view on the Rugby World Cup. This will be firmly from a fan's perspective, taking in the views from the many followers of rugby who we hope to meet on tour and the tales they have.

I'm excited to see the Rugby World Cup in a country which is so passionate about the sport. Many Kiwis I have met have described the place as "Rugby Country" and I'm eager to experience as much of the game as I can whilst out in NZ.

Another first for me will be jumping onto a long haul flight, which at current writing is a pretty daunting experience. Greg has already had a fancy-pants trip to Australia back when we were 14, so he knows what to expect on long haul flights. In comparison I am a relative novice when it comes to air travel, with a short haul to Turkey being my longest journey.

Aside from the fear of deep vein thrombosis, it's been pretty manic for me with sorting out what to pack. What comes with this is a whole range of menial tasks to make sure that I arrive at the airport with everything that I need for my three- month trip away. So the last couple of days, I have been trudging about town, dealing with faulty five-year-old digital cameras and picking out gimpy lightweight fleeces.

Hopefully at this point I have not forgotten anything major ... such as renewing my passport.

See you in Christchurch.

* Follow Mitch's Rugby World Cup adventures in New Zealand on Twitter: @NotSweetChariot