Kararaina got so carried away, that she forgot to be a lady and tucked her dress into her pants. Then Nanny called, ‘Haere mai ki te kai,’ so we scrambled inside. ‘Having a good time?’ Nanny asked. I nodded excitedly. ‘You kids can go for a swim afterward,’ she said. So we hurried up eating. ‘Can you swim?’ Albert asked, as we ran down the beach. I nodded. In Gisborne, Kara and I used to go to Swimming Club with Graeme and I had once won a twenty five yard race. ‘I can too,’ he said. Ahead of us, I could see Kara and Pare, screaming and yelling and waving their towels. Sometimes, Pare would be left behind because her legs were small. So Sally would grab her up and give a piggy back for a while. Pare loved that; she always liked having a ride. We played tiggy all the way and I was almost out of breath when we reached the cove. ‘You fullas go and get changed over there,’ Grace yelled when we got to the cove. Kepa poked his tongue. ‘She thinks she's boss,’ he whispered to me. ‘And don't you look, either,’ Grace added, ‘or I'll give you a hiding!’ The other girls giggled and hid behind a rock and whispered quietly to one another. ‘Come on, coz,’ Albert said. He motioned me to a shady place. The other boys were nearly all undressed. I looked away quickly, because Sid had hairs. ‘Eee!’ they yelled, pointing and slapping at each other's you-know-what. ‘Eee!’ I turned myself away from them, slipped down my pants and put my togs on. The others laughed. Then we ran down the beach and plunged into the sea. The sea was warm and we splashed round, swimming in circles because Nanny had said not to go too far out. The girls joined us. Grace had a petticoat on and a bra and she was fat. ‘Look at the whale!’ Albert yelled and Grace caught him and ducked him underneath. He came up spluttering and she said, ‘What you call me, what you call me ay? Say it again, go on, say it again. Aha! That'll teach you!’ But Albert wasn't scared of her. He swam away from her where she couldn't get him and began calling again, ‘A whale, a whale!’ But Grace couldn't be bothered with him. She cradled Pare in her arms and Pare made bubbles in the water and said, ‘I can thwim, look at me thwim!’ We stayed in the water for a long time, because it was very warm. We swam races and played tag, and Spot came and swam with us. Spot was a good swimmer for a dog. He could even bark in the water. We stayed at the cove all afternoon. Sometimes we swam in the sea, sometimes we raced on the beach. And sometimes, Kepa threw a stick for Spot to fetch. Then Spat would prance along the beach, his tail wagging, and bring it back. A lot of times, we just talked, getting to know each other. And Albert and Kopua put their arms round me just to show that we were friends. Albert and Kopua knew lots of things that I didn't. They knew how to milk a cow, strain a fence, ride a horse, drive a truck, all of the important things. I admired them very much; that I knew my ten times table and could spell hard words and speak properly didn't seem half as important. And afterwards, Sid tried to teach me how to whistle the dog with my fingers. I tried and tried, but Spot wouldn't do anything, just sat with his head cocked to one side. looking very puzzled. Everybody laughed and Kopua said. ‘You're a townie, all right.’ But I didn't mind them laughing, because I was laughing too much myself. About four o'clock, Grace yelled out, ‘We better go home now.’ And as she was the boss, we hurried to get changed. I was so happy, that I didn't bother to turn my back. ‘Eee!’ my cousins grinned. I smiled. Then Albert said, ‘Let's go and give the girls a fright!’ I wanted to say no, but the others were already scrambling over the rocks. ‘Sssh!’ they said as I came in my shoes. Albert got a handful of sand and threw it over the rock, then we scrambled away, laughing. The girls screamed and Grace's voice boomed out, ‘I know it was you, Albert! I know it was you! Just wait when I catch you. I'm going to give you a good hiding!’ Albert turned to me. ‘That'll teach her for pushing me under the water.’ He yelled out to Grace, ‘E koe, you tutae thing!’ We ran away down the beach before Grace could catch us. But she did in the end and slapped us boys over the head, even me, but I didn't mind, because it meant I