It didn't take long to fill our sack. Albert did most of the work. I had to use the knife. We worked our way from one pool to another. I was entranced. The seaweed waved gaily and the anemones opened their petals and little fish scurried away from our hands. Sometimes, I tugged too hard and a piece of reef would come away and muddy the water. Most times though, I fell back and got all wet. Then Albert would laugh and point his finger at me. A lot of times, I forgot all about the sea and a big wave would sneak up and say ‘Got you!’ before it slid over my head. But I didn't care, because it was fun looking for paua. After we'd filled the sack, I pulled it after me and took it up the beach to Nanny. She smiled. ‘Good ay?’ I nodded, then ran back to Albert. ‘Don't go too far out,’ Nanny yelled, ‘the shark might get you!’ She laughed and her puku jiggled. I knew she was joking. We stayed all afternoon in the water. Sometimes, I had to have a rest. I'd look up and see the other kids, and sometimes it seemed as if they were kissing the water. I saw Pare looking in the shallower pools for pupus, because they were easiest to find and looked like snails. When she saw one, she'd scream to Grace in her little voice, ‘I got one Grace! I got one!’ Then Grace would have to come and get it, because Pare was too scared to pick the pupu up. ‘Yes, Pare, that's one,’ she would say. All afternoon, Pare was yelling out to Grace, ‘I got one, I got one!’ And it seemed all afternoon, that Grace kept on trudging back to Pare to pick the pupu up and saying, ‘Yes Pare, yes Pare.’ She must have been very patient. Suddenly, Kara screamed. I looked up, to see the girls hustled about her. ‘Take it off! Take it off! Kara screamed. We ran up to see what was wrong. Grace was laughing. ‘It's only a baby,’ she was saying. On Kara's arm was a little octopus. She was crying, so George picked her up and piggy-backed her to the beach to the arms of Nanny. ‘There, there, Kara,’ Nanny soothed. ‘See? It won't hurt you.’ She poked at the octopus with a stick and it moved. Kara screamed again. The kids all laughed. So did I, but I was scared of the octopus too. I didn't want to go back into the water, because what would happen if the mother octopus was out there? Kara stayed with Nanny on the beach, and after a while, she calmed down. She poked at the octopus and inspected it. ‘Uncle Pita like octopus,’ Nanny told her. Kara couldn't believe that Uncle would actually eat it. But he did, and she felt very proud. ‘I caught that octopus, Uncle,’ she said to him. ‘I caught it!’ When all the sacks and kits were full, we played on the beach. Then Nanny said, ‘Time to go,’ so we picked up the sacks and trudged home. We had to rest a lot, because the sacks were very heavy. I was tired, so I had a nap. Kara and Pare joined me. The other kids giggled at us, but Nanny said ‘Turi, turi,’ and shooed them outside. We always took a nap if we were tired. Uncle Pita got home late that night. We had a big feed. And you know what? Pauas are good! The day dawned, and true to his promise, Uncle Pita took me out with him in his boat. We started out early, and Tamihana came too. Uncle Pita was very strong, but he puffed a lot at the oars and kept on mumbling, ‘Boy! I'm getting old!’ Sometimes Tamihana would have to row for a while, while Uncle had a rest. One time, I asked Uncle, ‘Shall I row for you?’ It looked easy. Uncle winked at Tamihana and nodded his head. So I grasped the oars, but it was hard! We just stayed in one place, and soon I was puffing and blowing as much as Uncle had been. So he said, ‘Never mind mokopuna, your uncle too heavy to move!’ ‘Sorry, Uncle,’ I said. But he just laughed. We reached the first crayfish pot and Uncle Pita steadied the boat. He began hauling at the line and far down in the water, I could see the wire cage. The pot broke the surface and Tamihana reached in and grabbed the crayfish. I thought he was brave, because the crayfish looked very fierce, waving their feelers in the air and going click, click with their claws. Tamihana threw the crayfish at my feet and I yelled. I almost upset the boat, but Uncle thought it was a big laugh. The seagulls must have thought so too, because they began to cackle. Uncle Pita talked to me while we went continued on page 42