The Beagle Incident

Of all the places we have traveled, New Zealand is the most stringent in terms of entrance requirements. Granted, they don't require visas (as does Australia - see earlier post), but the rigamarole starts before you even are cleared to board the plane that is destined to land in NZ. There is a "green card" to fill out, and you are warned over and over and over again about what you can/cannot take to NZ.

When we flew here in 1988, we were sprayed with some sort of toxic substance that was designed to kill any bacteria we might inadvertently be carrying on our person. I had been advised at that time to cover my daughter's face and my own with a pillow as the flight attendants unleashed the aerosol chemicals in the passenger cabin.

Twenty-eight years hence, we no longer are sprayed with toxins upon arrival. However, immigration is grueling. Ned had failed to fill in the fact that he was born in the USA. He had to all but produce his original birth certificate when we got to the kiosk where they stamp your passports into the country. Then, we went through no fewer than three checkpoints where our luggage was x-rayed or we were asked if we were bringing any edibles, any firewood (inside joke), etc. into the country.

Once we got our luggage through the final x-ray station, we thought we were done. Alas, we were not! A cute little beagle pup was brought 'round to sniff us and our bags. Thinking it pro-forma, knowing that we were not bringing any contraband into the country, and with my hip hurting, I went ahead of Ned and exited the area. Ned did not follow...

Turns out the beagle expressed an obsessed interest with one of Ned's bags, prompting the immigration inspector to pull Ned aside so that his bag could be subjected to further investigation. As each item came out of the identified bag, the cute little pup did his job and sniffed yet again. When the vitamins came out of the bag, the beagle went wild. Granted, our multi-vitamins do smell strongly. Little did we know that the scent was one to attract such attention. The episode took about 10-15 minutes, and therefore warranted at least a nod in the blog. Travelers to New Zealand, beware!