Joan Goes North

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVII, Issue 23839, 14 December 1940, Page 3 (Supplement)

Joan Goes North

T)FAI! AXXE SHIRLEY.—One. week end lately I spent at Matakatia up north near Manly. Every morning 1 woke up to the notes of a tui that sang in the pohutakawa tree just outside my window. One morning the cows were let out Btter milking. It was low tide, and to our amazement we saw all the thirty cows cross the sand and walk out toward the sea. It looked rery odd and if they had hot moved oif again ' I would bare sketched them. In the centre of the bay is Frenchman's Cap. which is a rock-like island where seagulls nest. It looks rery charming when the gulls swoop over it. On Saturday the men went out in the dinghy to fish so my friend and I went for a walk around the rocks. We turned over rocks as we went, for it

was fun to see tlie crabs scuttling away to shelter. On turning over a large rock in a pool we discovered a sprat about 4.1 inches long. After a scuffle ""e got it into a big bowl of seawater, shells and seaweed. Soon we had quite a collection of large an<Ksmall tommvcod. sprats and others. We had a lovely little aquarium and we proudly showed it to tfie men when they returned without any fish. However, when the tide started to come in we placed - the tish in a pool so they would go out again with the tide. We went home very pleased with ourselves and smelling decidedly fishy. —Yours truly, Joan Ekman (13), Mt. Albert.