BITWRATHPLOOB World Tour

Aloha, BITWRATHPLOOB!1
lizkover posted in Arrivals, Departures on February 18th, 2009

They had known for weeks that a surprise visitor was on “his” way.

Much to my friends’ dismay (and utter confusion), it was The Bitwrathploob.

The animals wondered if the Ploob was one of them…

He seemed to feel fine after his long flight from Boston, so we showed him around the pad and let him get a feel for how we do things around here.

With his rope arms “tied” behind his back, the Ploob jammed on Survivor’s “Eye of the Tiger”.

We were thrilled that he had come with his head intact, considering what we had read about it popping off rather easily. It wasn’t until about 30 minutes later that we realized he was missing his nose.

It just so happened that Chris was in the middle of reading “The Idiot’s Guide to Plastic Surgery on Freakish Inanimate Objects”, so we figured he was qualified to perform a quick nose job on the Ploob.

He whittled away on a small glob of wax, which he then impaled on the thin nail he had previously hammered into the Ploob’s nasal socket. While it sounds like it would be horrifically painful, apparently having no nerves cuts down dramatically on the sensation.

In no time, he was good as new. The only reason one would even be able to tell he had had work done was the fact that his old nose had been bright red, and his new one was a sophisticated white.

From that point on, it was non-stop Hawaiian fun and adventure for our pantsless friend…

Here he is standing in front of one of only two freshwater lakes on the whole Big Island. He didn’t want to swim, he said, because he worried about his hair getting frizzy. He was, however, fascinated by the rope swing (not pictured here). He said it looked just like a cousin of his.

He stood in the frozen path of molten lava that had coursed forth from the Kilauea volcano in 1881. This is Kaumana cave, located on the east side of the island, in Hilo.

Spelunking, anyone?

He soaked in some rays on the pristine lava rock beaches of the Kona coast.

He frightened the yellow tangs at Kahalu’u Beach Park.

He even took a tour of the Mauna Loa macadamia nut factory!

All in all, the Bitwrathploob enjoyed his vacation to the Islands of Paradise. And now is looking forward to getting back “on the road”.

Look for him soon in…[DESTINATION REDACTED FOR SHOCK VALUE]!

Lake Superiority Complex5
andrea posted in Departures, Detours on October 1st, 2008

For our last outing, the ‘Ploob got to go on a road trip. What’s more American than a road trip? We went north to check out the one Great Lake bordering Minnesota: Lake Superior.

It was a gorgeous Minnesota late summer day, all sunshine and heat – even “up north” in Duluth. We headed to Canal Park, one of the best places to get up close and personal with Lake Superior, and a place to get a novel look at some seafaring vessels.

“Is it any wonder that Duluthians and Minnesotan’s love this magnificent lake so much?”

Some facts about Lake Superior that we learned from this plaque:

• It has the largest surface area of all fresh water bodies in the world.
• It take the sun 30 minutes to arc over the lake.
• The time it takes for the average vessel to get from Duluth to the Atlantic Ocean via the St. Lawrence Seaway is seven days.
• “It is quite easy to imagine that it is the most wonderful lake in the world.”

Feeling inspired, we decided to head down the boardwalk to the Aerial Lift Bridge, to see if we could see any big ships coming or going.

And we did:

This particular vessel was from St. Johns, in the Caribbean (it’s blurry in the photo, but trust me, that’s what it says).

It was a hot day and all of this being in the sun was starting to wear on the ‘Ploob and me, so we went to the Portland Malt Shop for one of the most fantastic chocolate malts I’ve ever had. It was about a 20 minute wait to get a malt, but once we got ours, we could see what all the fuss was about.

There was also a great view of the lake from up on the hill where the malt shop is located.

On the way out of town, the ‘Ploob got one last scenic view of Lake Superior.

It just goes to show that Minnesota isn’t all about delicacies-on-a-stick and giant malls.

And now, my husband and I bid a fond farewell to the Bitwrathploob and send him to his next destination – but I’ll let that be a surprise.

“There’s a voice keeps on callin’ me”2
simon posted in Departures, Detours on July 26th, 2008

Yes, just like The Littlest Hobo, BITWRATHPLOOB has heard the call of the open road, and he must heed it. Having had his fill of Belgium ‘Ploob just had time for a long weekend in Exeter, where he admired the cathedral, which has the longest unbroken gothic ceiling in the world, apparently.

Nearby, Mol’s Coffee House.

And then it was back to Brussels to be packed into a box and posted off to…..ah, but that would be telling, wouldn’t it? Goodbye, Mr ‘Ploob. It was an honour to spend time in your company.

By the way, some of you may have noticed that this site was unavailable for a short time, and it’s only thanks to Erik’s mad hosting skillz that it’s back up at all (bar a few of the most recent comments). Respect.

The ‘Ploob is off to the mountains0
erik posted in Departures on June 2nd, 2008

No self-respecting visitor to the South Island of NZ can avoid a trip through the Southern Alps. I would’ve loved to take the BITWRATHPLOOB to Queenstown and the more exotic Lake Tekapo and Milford Sound but, alas! I had neither a car, nor a three-day holiday to spend driving south.

What I did have was friends willing to take me, and the ‘Ploob, for a day-trip to Arthur’s Pass. We left early – 8am! – and headed to Darfield for our morning coffee, then we hit the road towards the mountains. The ‘Ploob spent most of the trip in Maddi’s company: 

The car started climbing the hills, then the hill turned into mountains, we were still climbing and our ears were beginning to pop. We were treated to some spectacular views, before finally arriving to our first stop: the Castle Hill rock formations.

The place is just stunning – those giant rocks sitting there, seemingly randomly scattered on the side of the hill.

Some scenes from the first movie The Chronicles of Narnia were filmed here, though I’m not sure in which part exactly. The place is also well known for bouldering, and we did get to admire a few climbers. You could say we were inspired (though perhaps less adventurous) and we climbed to the top of one of the bigger, more accessible rocks to take pictures of the ‘Ploob in front of this strange scenery:

The road between Castle Hill and the village of Arthur’s Pass keeps going up through the mountains. My favourite part of the drive, I think, are the incredibly large, flat riverbeds we cross here and there. During the thaw in spring they are probably full of water, but at this time of year (early autumn), they look like rivers of rocks. And somehow all the bridges – really long bridges! – have only one lane.

We arrived in Arthur’s Pass for lunch. We ate at the Wobbly Kea Café, then drove the short distance to the beginning of the Punchbowl Falls trail. Nothing like going up hundreds of steps to help with digestion!

The ‘Ploob managed to mess with my camera again…

…but nothing that couldn’t be fixed on the drive to Death Corner and the Otira Viaduct.

Years ago, the road used to be on the side of the mountain. Then the scree slope took over and the road disappeared. It was rebuilt, then washed down the hillside again. Not surprisingly, the zigzag-y bit leading to this portion of road was called Death’s Corner…  A few years ago (in the 1990s, I think), the viaduct was built – wider, larger angles, less at the mercy of tumbling mountain sides. Death’s Corner is now a viewpoint for the viaduct, a picnic spot for tourists, and the playground of the keas.

I had heard so many stories about those birds – they’re very clever, and so used to tourists that one only has to put down a picnic blanket for them to come out a beg/steal food, as well as hats, gloves, books, bottles and anything left unattended for a minute. I was really looking forward to photographing their encounter with the BTWRATHPLOOB. Unfortunately, it wasn’t meant to be. There were no keas there that day – not a single bird to be found.

Still, the day’s adventures weren’t over yet. We headed back to Christchurch on the same road we came in, stopping just before we reached Castle Hill again.

Cave Stream Reserve was another attraction I had heard about but had never seen myself. With the ‘Ploob in my pockets (that head that pops out is so handy for transport!), we started down the cliff trail, being mindful of the dangers.

Some people were obviously intent on exploring the cave, but the water was decidedly too cold for us.

When we walked back up, the moon was rising above the mountains. We drove home in the dark, exhausted by all the fresh air and walking, and those of us in the back seat slept most of the way.

A very warm thank you to the Dumbles: Helen, Darren and little Maddi, who took the ‘Ploob and I on this adventure through the alps and happily shared in the rock climbing and silly photo-taking.

The ‘Ploob goes to London town0
hubbers posted in Departures on December 14th, 2007

The ‘Ploob and I had one last outing together where we saw the tourist highlights of London. First we too the tube to Green Park and then we went to Buckingham Palace. The ‘Ploob liked Buckers but was disappointed the Queen wasn’t in for a photo.

Later on in the day we also saw Westminster Abbey

And Parliament Square which has statues of some of the ‘Ploobs heroes, Nelson Mandela and Winston Churchill.

Finally we took photos of the ‘Ploob with Big Ben and the London Eye.

The ‘Ploob really liked taking the tube around London and like a good passenger he stood on the right so other people could walk on the left.

After such a long day walking around the city the ‘Ploob was poked and he needed a nap at Westminster Station.

The ‘Ploob is now on his way to China for another wedding and maybe some dancing girls

Adios, Señor BITWRATHPLOOB!0
erik posted in Departures on September 10th, 2007

Twenty-three days ago, the BITWRATHPLOOB arrived in Spain. During his short visit, he got to eat some tapas, visit the Guggenheim Museum, bathe in the sun and crystal clear waters at the beach, and even run with the bulls. That sounds like an adequate Spanish vacation to me.

Let’s take a quick photo memory tour back over his visit…

Like an overachieving parasite, it’s time for the BITWRATHPLOOB to move to a new host. He will now go north, and a little east, towards a small town that the Romans called Londinium. The next Keeper of the ‘Ploob (KP) is a friend and ex-colleague of mine named Carl Hubbers. Hubbers is a bit of a world traveller himself, and it just so happens that the BITWRATHPLOOB is in luck. Due to an unfortunate congenital condition (being born in New Zealand), Hubbers is a rugby fan. For those of you outside Her Majesty’s Commonwealth, the 7th Rugby World Cup is currently taking place in Europe. In the coming 6 weeks, Hubbers is planning on attending games in Lyon, Toulouse, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Paris, and he has agreed to take the BITWRATHPLOOB with him on these journeys under one condition: that the BITWRATHPLOOB support the New Zealand rugby team, the All Blacks (not as racist as it sounds). As a result, the BITWRATHPLOOB will be able to check off 4 countries in 6 weeks with one host. Ideally, the ‘Ploob would spend only two or three weeks with each host, but I think that exceptions can and should be made for such great offers.

The only bad, dark, horrible, terrifying part of this plan is that the one weekend that Hubbers and the BITWRATHPLOOB will not be traveling to see a rugby match, they will be here in Spain attending my wedding. Isn’t that ironic, Alanis. Hopefully we can keep the BITWRATHPLOOB out of the photo album so I don’t have to explain what a bucktoothed rope-armed troll-haired pantsless wood bear is to my grandchildren.

¡Buen viaje, Señor BITWRATHPLOOB! ¡Y no vuelvas nunca jamás!

Oh, and we’ve got an inventory page now, showing what little treasures the BITWRATHPLOOB has picked up in his travels.

Next stop: España0
erik posted in Departures on August 10th, 2007

The BITWRATHPLOOB’s in the mail, en route from Slovenia to Spain. ¡Buen viaje, BITWRATHPLOOB!