BITWRATHPLOOB World Tour

Arrival in Belgium5
simon posted in Arrivals on June 3rd, 2008

Friday evening. I got home from work to find one of those “We tried to deliver a parcel while you were out” messages. The post office wouldn’t be open again until Monday morning.

Monday afternoon. My wife called to let me know that she’d picked up the parcel from the post office, and that it wasn’t what we’d been expecting, but rather a tube from New Zealand.

It could only be one thing. The tube contained a ‘Ploob.

Scissors in one hand, moving with caution and deliberation, my wife occasionally mopping my sweaty brow, I extricated the passenger from its cardboard container.

As Frédérique’s note explained, he’d had to be slightly mutilated (head, nose and one foot amputated) in order to fit comfortably into his Ploob-tube, but these popped back into place relatively painlessly (at least, I heard no yelps of pain), and he was whole once more.

After perusing his impressive collection of fridge magnets, we sat down and discussed his itinerary for the coming weeks. Had he arrived a few weeks earlier he could have accompanied us to Japan, but I’m sure he’ll get another chance to do that in the future. Who knows how long he’ll be circling the globe? The road never ends…

The Wood Bear goes Kiwi2
Frederique posted in Arrivals on May 7th, 2008

After much anticipation and one more inter-continental postal jump, in early February the BITWRATHPLOOB finally made it to the land where people, birds and fruits all share the same name. A series of inter-NZ travels, a new job, a move between islands, and a dying computer are my excuses for the very, very late updates of the Ploob’s adventures. Things have settled, I apologise to the numerous fans of the little creature, and I begin this long overdue narrative.

The Ploob arrived in the best-wrapped parcel we’d seen in a long time, which might explain the meagre $1 it was insured for.

Fresh out of the box, the Ploob encountered the other creatures of the house and found himself (itself?) subjected to a thorough olfactory inspection.

Kloé the Labrador kept coming for more and we had to make sure the Ploob would stand well away from her reach - there’s something in that red hair she simply could not resist.

We introduced the Ploob to La P’tite Bête, a French…thing… also travelling the word, accompanied by my friends Virginien and Angélique. The Ploob had a laugh at their English-ified names - Virgin and Angel - but was quickly reminded its own name had to be filled out with vowels just to be pronounceable, and it really shouldn’t make fun of others.

The Ploob proved adaptable and seemed unfazed by the predominant use of French in our home and the reversal of seasons. Still, not wanting to leave it in completely new surroundings, we arranged for it to hang out with ‘friends’ met in the box-trip from China:

The next day we were off to see the wonders of Hamilton

Shanghaied in China3
erik posted in Arrivals, Official Visits on January 29th, 2008

In late 2007, the BITWRATHPLOOB was sent to Shanghai, China, to visit the Orient and meet a few of the 1.3 billion residents. The host in China, Diesel Stumpy, has asked me to write this post on his behalf. All the photos are his.

The flight east was a little rough on the little guy, but luckily Stumpy is a world-renowned wood bear surgeon, and our fearsome traveler was back on his feet in no time.

His first visit was to an ancient Chinese temple.

This is very likely the best photograph of the BITWRATHPLOOB ever. Weird attracts weird, I guess.

Lighting candles in the temple.

When in China, do as the Chinese do….ride a bicycle.

The Chinese people were completely enchanted with the BITWRATHPLOOB. And quite a few of them met him (it?).

The BITWRATHPLOOB felt right at home amongst the items at this bizarre bazaar.

Then it was time for a little sightseeing…

Pearl Tower

View to the Bund from Pudong.

Participating in a candlelight vigil on the river. Candles were only issued to those vigil goers (vigilantes?) without rope arms.

Up close to the Pearl Tower.

The tallest buildings in Shanghai.

And there you have it, it’s time to pile into the car and head to the next destination!

Until next time!

BITWRATHPLOOB arrives in London2
hubbers posted in Arrivals on September 19th, 2007

BITWRATHPLOOB arrived in London safe in sound last week just in time to make the flight to Lyon to watch the All Blacks demolish Portugal 108 to 13. Sadly the little fella drank quite a few minis on the flight over and never made it out of the hotel all weekend. This weekend he is going to Glasgow and Edinburgh. We have had a long chat about responsible drinking and finishing off your own bodyweight in spirits from bottles that come up to your neck. I think he got the message.

With luck he will also get out and about to see the sights in London in the next two weeks.

Intrepidly Invading Iberia8
erik posted in Arrivals on August 18th, 2007

Much like Hannibal, but with fewer elephants, the BITWRATHPLOOB has invaded the Iberian Peninsula. Here, I present some unboxing photos, and hopefully over the coming week or two, he (it?) will get to see a little bit of Northern Spain before departing for his next destination.

Someone was clever enough to surround it in a black plastic band to insure that the BITWRATHPLOOB remained inside.

Some enterprising young man with excellent crayon penmanship, presumably Adam, had used the inside of the brown wrapping paper to practice his alphabet.

Where have I seen a shiny red spherical nose like that before?

He escaped!! Everybody run!!!

Enjoying a bit of fresh air and Spanish sunshine. It was getting kind of stuffy in the box.

Mr. Cactus, of Cactus Cam fame, had a beautiful flower ready for Mr. BITWRATHPLOOB upon his arrival.

One of the items in this photo is a beautiful manifestation of Nature’s beauty.

Gotta take time during your World Tour to stop and smell the roses cactus flowers.

Later in the day, Marga walks over to him (it?) and says, “This little thing’s not so bad. He’s actually kind of cute!” 1.934 seconds later, I hear a gasp, a scream, and a wooden thump, and the BITWRATHPLOOB’s head is rolling across the floor. “Oh yeah, his head comes off,” I said. She hasn’t gone near it since.