no way jose

My Christmas present from my sister was a day out to hear Jose Gonzalez play at Peregrine, a vineyard between the farm and Queenstown.

When I sent some songs to a friend of mine he pointed out that he is sort of a glorified folk cover singer. I guess that's true, but he does it pretty well.

If it weren't for him I may never have heard Kylie Minogue's "Hand on Your Heart." It's actually pretty amazing what he does with that song. He also played "Love Will Tear Us Apart," which I overheard someone say is the most covered song in the world. But how would you really prove a statistic like that?

Anyway, it was a gorgeous blazing sunny day and we didn't get burned.

While we were doing this, Brother Doug was busy on the west coast of the South Island near Haast. This is a place I've heard referred to as "Man-Land," a rugged coast populated with only sand-flies and six-packs.

Doug prepared for his trip by rigging his own gaff (a hook on a pole for stabbing fish) with tools he found in the garage, checking the expiration dates on his flares (two in 1986, one in 2006) and trying on a variety of wetsuits that may also have been beyond their expiration date. He left at 10:30 one night and came back in time for dinner the following evening, with no sleep and one failed engine. He did manage to bring us back a few crayfish.

After we destroyed the legs Sara made a beautiful pasta with the meat.


Our mom had returned to the States the day before. In her honor, my contribution to the meal was a green salad, which she has trouble dining without. I've moved into her house in her absence. It is a block away from the lake, and is a great spot for writing, cooking and having neighbors call in (Kiwi for "stop by") for a drink. The neighborhood pub is down the road too. I haven't ventured in yet, but there's sure to be more on that to come...