"I would like to go back to Waiharara, nor Kaimaumau, but I haven't been able to find anywhere yet."
He could not afford to buy land, or a house, and had been unable to find anywhere to rent.
He had been visited by a council officer, who had not been sympathetic, but the attitude had changed a little after he wrote to the Mayor, following which he was given three weeks to comply, a process that would include placing the cabin on permanent foundations.
That, Michael said, would cost $20,000, and would raise legal complications, and wasn't a practical means of resolving what he had told the council was a short-term solution to his housing problem.
"I accept that the council has to act now that there has been a complaint, but I can't move until I have somewhere to move to," he said.
"At the moment I have no idea what I'm going to do."
Nor did he know what was going to happen if he was still there when the three weeks the council had given him was up.
"It seems that as far as the council is concerned they would rather you live on the street or in your car than in a cabin, even though they fully know that there is nowhere for people to rent or go to," he said.
"Nice Christmas present from our council. I thought they were meant to help people, not throw them in the gutter.