Otago.

Some have seen this picture:

You know what it is? It's a rare photo of a drawing of a rare bird: a little brown spotted Kiwi.

The story? Great.

When I was on the road on the South Island a few years back (January of aught 7), I was out on the Otago peninsula. I was invited to go to a party at someone's house, after watching the Ashes (For US readers: cricket match, Australia vs England) at some bar. I thought it would be a fine thing to do- meet the locals, who were bogans to the end.

During the party a man who spoke with a harsh throaty voice, such as someone who has had cancer of the throat began to yell at me for no reason. His friends calmed him down, and told him to draw me a picture. They assured me he was a fine artist, and he proceeded to illustrate the above picture. Approximately 4 minutes after its completion, he started yelling at me to give it back. He had forgotten who I was, and why he drew it. I was told to keep it, and I mused out loud that I needed to get back to my tent, so I'd hit the road.

I was given the drunkest drive back, down a wind 2 lane road, with no shoulders that had the bay on one side and a cliff on the other. I remember the moon in the water winking at me just a few, precipitous feet below the truck.

I went to bed blow away I was still alive after that jaunt to a hamlet out there on that wonderful Otago peninsula.

And I've found this drawing in my stuff during the move, and just found the cable to attach the camera to the computer, so there you go kids. Enjoy.