KEY POINTS:
For someone who hates flying, Waitakere United midfielder Chris Bale has done plenty of it since leaving his native Wales to play soccer in New Zealand.
"I'm not so bad when we are in the air, but I still can't come to grips with the takeoffs and landings,"
said Bale who has jetted round the country for New Zealand Football Championship matches and flown to Japan (twice), China, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Fiji and Tahiti in the 18 or so months he has been here.
"And, funnily enough, more often than not I sit next to Jake [fellow midfielder Jake Butler] who feels the same about flying as I do. I have done a hell of a lot more flying than I ever did in England.
It was more likely to be a four- or five-hour drive."
On the field Bale does his fair share of "getting about". Ever-present in the Waitakere engineroom, Bale legs it from start to finish, week-in, week-out.
Since joining the West Aucklanders at the start of the 2007-08 season, Bale has started just about every game and played just about every minute.
"I've only been subbed off once and that was in the first game I played against Team Wellington," said Bale, who thought he was about to be called in during last Sunday's game against Canterbury United at English Park when the fourth official held up No 15.
"For an awful moment, I thought it was me but then I realised it was the other No 15."
United coach Chris Milicich rarely considers giving his midfield general time off. "Along with JP [defender Jonathan Perry], he probably played more than anyone last season," said Milicich. "He is a lot better than people give him credit for. We certainly don't 'um and ah' about putting him in the starting line-up.
"Jake Butler and Chris Bale are the first names on the team sheet. Chris is a lot quicker than people think. I don't think we would have done as well as we have without him.
"Chris and Jake are our ball-playing midfielders whereas Paul Seaman is our destroyer."
That is reflected in the bookings. Seaman is a regular in the referee's notebook, Bale rarely figures.
"Chris brings a vital long and short passing game and has a tremendous ability to link defence with attack," said Milicich.
"He brings power to the midfield and plays like an extra centre-back. And he has the ability to take the ball out of danger areas."
Bale has been asked to play a slightly different role in his adopted country but relishes the challenge.
"Before I came here I was expected to get forward and support the strikers," said Bale. "In the season before I first played here, I scored 16 goals. Here I have hardly scored."
That irks him somewhat, especially as he regularly smacks them in from long range at training.
"Last year I scored four or five, this season none. Hopefully that will change in the back part of the season.
"But really, goal scoring is not my main aim. I'm there to stop them [the opposition] from scoring... I think we have got the tactics right.
"With Danny [Hay] and JP [Perry] out we have had to change things and go with four at the back," said Bale. "But it seems to be working."
Off the field, Bale is just as happy.
He followed his parents to New Zealand with no regrets.
Bale and his girlfriend of a little over a year now have an apartment in the Viaduct. Life is good.
"We all love it here. My sister and her fiance are here too. I can't see any of us going back to live although at some time I might go back and play some football."
One thing against that, though, is the weather. "In all the time I have been here, I have played only one game in the rain," said Bale.
"Playing with the sun on your back and on pitches better than those at home make it all pretty enjoyable."
A testing double-header - today and on Sunday - will be another test. But with games at Trusts Stadium and Ngaruawahia's Centennial Park, at least he won't have to fly anywhere.
He's happy about that.
CHRIS BALE
DOB: May 30, 1982.
Born: Newport, South Wales.
Arrived NZ: May 2007.
Representative: Wales (non-league) four-nations tournament 2006 and 2007.
NZ clubs: Waitakere City, Metro (Northern Regional League) Waitakere United (NZFC).
