Seafood by Pehi Parata The day broke beautiful and fine, and with much excitement we busied ourselves in preparation for the 11-mile trip to ‘the rocks’, as we called the beach where we were going that day to gather sea-food. Eleven whole miles—it seemed a lifetime—but at last we were there. The beautiful blue sea stretched beyond the tail of Kapiti, which now shimmered in the heat, out and beyond even Te Waipounamu, until it was difficult to tell where the sea ended and sky began. So much to do … so much to see and touch … all squeezed into five minutes. Never mind the sharp rocks that cut, the huge mosquitoes that bit on brown skin, the fall on slippery rocks—it was all forgotten in the first dive into that cool crystal-clear water … the laughter … the tears … the memory … I remembered too, being told we kids were not tourists—we were brought along to work, to help gather paua and kina—a task we enjoyed anyway. ‘Turn over the rock and you will find the paua clinging to it’ … ‘Be quick or you will never wrench him loose’ … ‘Feel under that rock wrench him loose’ … ‘Feel under that rock for a kina’ … and in our eagerness we were rewarded with a handful of spikes; and if we needed strength to carry on, we were told to leave the shell way above the high water line. The kits were filled in a short while, full of paua that would soon be shelled and hung up like necklaces to dry—to be eaten at one's leisure; full of kina that was soaked a day or so and eaten in a hurry; giant crabs that looked already cooked with their bright red shell; and it we were lucky, a crayfish, kourahoki-whakamuri, backed into the furthermost corner … The furthermost corner … alas … just like the crayfish that got away, the paua and kina have gone and hid in the further-most corner with him …

Maori Buildings The New Zealand Mistoric Places Trust has established a Maori Buildings Committee whose function is to consider ways of implementing measures to record and preserve important Maori ceremonial decorated and historic buildings. The venture has the support of the Maori Council, who will be represented on the committee. The Secretary for Maori and Island Affairs will be a member of the committee. The first need is to assemble a basic list of such buildings. The final solution will probably be to use the list as a basis for actual field programmes during which visits will need to be made to all districts and marae throughout New Zealand so that all houses actually standing will be recorded. The Trust is interested in both written and photographic records, details or areas covered, when the record was compiled, and whether any investigation or inspection has been carried out. Any information which will assist the committee will be welcomed by the Director, New Zealand Historic Places Trust, P.O. Box 12-255, Wellington.