Ari's Planet

My last day in New Zealand was a great success. That day I trundeled into town and picked up a few last-minute gifts. On the way, a couple of fellow hostel inmates sprung for several of my books. Two Germans, in rapid succession, both commented "hey, I've seen that film" on seeing a copy of "The Art of War". Yes, I know that's sad but they're nice guys. Getting rid of the books bought me some cash for gifts, as well as lightening my load an avoiding a repeat of the Great Plastic Bag Burst of 2002. Later I met up with a few more hostel mates and we went fishing outside Auckland. Actually, they went fishing and I took pictures. My rule: teach a man to take pictures and he'll get a photo, teach a man to fish and he may or may not eat that night. I ate some Chinese concoction and we all swilled sandy Irish Cream. The big frenchman made off with a nice snapper, and I got great sunset shots of the Auckland skyline, or rather of the light that was not blocked by man's buildings. The next morning was early and involved a failure to eat my last three tomatos. I did get to the airport properly on time, was given several conflicting opinions about taking matches on a plane, and enjoyed not having to take off my boots to go through security. The flight was uneventful, accompanied by the dreadful Get Smart. I seem to have dozed off at some point, which is the only way I can explain the following events. After landing at a typical airport, I made my way into what looked like a typical city, found a typical hostel, checked in, and went for what I thought would be a typical walk. Now, my flight, at least as I recalled booking it, was from Auckland to Sydney, which if you look up a map is in Australia. Now, imagine my shock when it turned out I was in Brazil! Just a short walk out, and there were all these Brazillian flags, Brazillian girls, Brazillian food, Brazillian music. Now, Brazil is a right nice place, but I just wasn't expecting it on this particular day. I think they may have put up a replica of the Sydney Opera House (probably another Disney production), but other than that, I just can't figure it out. Maybe when I fell asleep a kea escaped from the cargo hold, ate through the cabin floor, and hijacked the plane. That, at any rate, seems like the most plausible explanation.