Dad loved to go diving. He would ring Uncle Hilton and say, "What's the tide like?" and if it was a good tide he'd be off. He'd always get plenty of kina, pāua, and crayfish. And sometimes he'd stay under so long we'd get worried that he'd never come up.
But Tommy Ngātoro was even better. He lived above the sea on the Horoera road, and often he and Dad would go diving together. Then one of us would have to drag the sack and catch the crayfish they brought out before the crayfish could flip themselves back into the channel.
Sometimes Dad would say, "Go on, you kids, fill that kit with bubu."1 We never came home empty handed. In those days there was plenty of seafood; not very often did we come home with only bubu.
Well, one day Dad came home with this Pākeha man called Harry Alley. He was a linesman or something. He was short and round and had a very red face. He also had a truck, and that weekend we didn't have to catch the horses or walk; we piled onto the back of Harry Alley's truck and set off round the rocks.
On the way out, Harry Alley was boasting to Dad that he could stay under the water longer than anyone he'd ever met, but Dad said he would have to be pretty good to beat Tommy Ngātoro.
When we got round the point, Tommy Ngātoro came down, and we kids followed the three men out onto the rocks to where Dad said there was a good tauwhare.2 We hung around to see how good a diver Harry Alley really was. We had to admit that he could stay under a long time. When he came up, his face was redder than ever.
Before long they had enough crayfish. Then Harry Alley bet Tommy Ngātoro he could stay under the longest, and Dad could be the judge. Dad gave the word, and down they went. But what was the matter! No sooner had Tommy Ngātoro disappeared than he was back up again and sitting on a rock. Then it dawned on us what was happening. Tommy sat there with a sly smile till he saw Harry coming up, then he slid under again making hardly a ripple.
When Harry Alley came up, he looked as if his face would burst. His eyes nearly popped out of his head when he realised that Tommy Ngātoro was still under. After quite a long time, Tommy appeared with a huge grin on his face. "E hoa, you out already?" he laughed.
Harry Alley never said a word the whole way home. And if he enjoyed his crayfish, he didn't say so.
1 bubu: pūpū, - an edible spiral shellfish.
2 tauwhare: a ledge under which crayfish can be found.
2 tauwhare: a ledge under which crayfish can be found.
By Bob McConnell