When a group of young Australian and Kiwi sailing friends are allowed to camp in New Zealand’s Bay of Islands. they discover something very unexpected on a tiny nearby rocky islet. Fresh cultural and environmental insights are introduced with the arrival of a pair of local Maori children who bring humour and resilience in the face of problems that threaten to turn their lives upside-down..
The underlying message that modern youngsters are capable of overcoming challenges without constant adult supervision will appeal to any free-spirited reader in the nine to ninety-nine age bracket.
In the context of a challenging camping and boating adventure, this book explores the themes of traditional Maori conservation practices as well as current social issues regarding Oranga Tamariki and children’s welfare.
Released world-wide in mid August (2020), the action follows directly from where Those Sugar-Barge Kids left off, as can be seen from the first chapter below. However as with its four prequels, it can be read as a stand-alone book.
THOSE SEAL ROCK KIDS
Chapter 1
The Float Test
FIN HAD ALWAYS LOVED THE sound of outboard motors. They reminded him of the excitement of fishing trips – the smell of bait and oily seawater mingled with faint petrol fumes. But during the past fortnight the sound of inflatable dinghies busily making their way to and from other yachts in the anchorage had become so common that he no longer popped his head out of the hatch to watch whoever was passing.
This morning it was only when a rather noisy outboard motor suddenly slowed very close behind Compass Rose that he even noticed it.
“Hey yous – want some eggs?” It was a loud call, followed by a scrape and bump, and within seconds he was scrambling out of the hatch ahead of his brother Jake. Two brown faces were looking confidently up at them from a battered aluminium dinghy.
The girl broke into a throaty giggle as she held up a large old ice-cream container. “Ella told us where to find yous. Nice boat ay!” Fin looked from her to the slightly younger boy scrabbling for the end of a frayed rope from under a seat. There was another metallic bump and scrape, and Jake lunged for a fender – Dad wouldn’t be happy to see scratches on Compass Rose’s hull after all the polishing they had been doing this week! Fin barely had time to gather his wits before the boy tossed the scruffy rope-end in his direction and clambered aboard.
It was Jake who replied, stammering slightly as his eyes followed the trail of muddy footprints along the deck. “Umm – d-did you say that Ella sent you? You’d better come aboard too. Mum and Jess are in Paihia.” The girl thrust the container into his hands and swung lightly over the rail.
“You better give’m the float test before you crack’m.” She pointed at the container. “Dunno how old they are. We had an egg hunt this morning. Chooks lay all around Nan’s place. Chuck away the ones that don’t sink.” She looked around – gesturing. “Pretty flash! Yous guys really live on this?”
Fin interrupted before Jake could answer. “Have you just been to the sugar-barge? Are Sam and Ella coming too?” It was several days since he had been aboard the big old barge hidden in the mangrove swamp with those two rather bossy girls living their strange lifestyle.
It was the boy who answered, looking up from where he was tying the frayed rope to the rail. “Yeah – just been there. Didn’t need the eggs. Said to bring them to yous guys.”
Jake’s face lit up in sudden realisation. “I know who you two are. Ella and Sam told us about you. You live up Waikare inlet don’t you. Are you Johnny?” The boy nodded as he stood up. Fin studied him curiously. The cheeky grin reminded him of his Kiwi sailing friend Zac, but Johnny seemed even more casual and self-confident. His straight dark hair was cropped fairly short except for a thin tail at the back which flicked as he turned toward his older sister.
“Tell them, Heeni … go on!”
The girl flushed slightly and began hesitantly, her expressive wide mouth briefly losing its confident smile. “Ella told us yous guys and them are going camping out at Urupukapuka. In your dinghies. Nan says she might let us go too…”
“…but we have to buy the petrol ourselves,” interrupted Johnny. “I’m gonna help fix old Rangi’s fences tomorrow. He’ll probably pay me.” He shrugged and pointed toward his sister. “And Heeni might do some rousing up at Bill’s wool-shed for a coupla days.”
Fin looked at Jake, whose mouth opened and shut twice as his face turned rather red. This was embarrassing. “Jess’ll be pleased to have your eggs,” he mumbled, flustered. “D’you want to have a look inside?”
Once they had all scrambled down the ladder from the cockpit, Jake seemed to recover his ability to talk. “We sailed the boat up from the South Island, but actually we’re from Australia. We’re sailing to Tonga in a few weeks. This is the main saloon and galley – it’s our main cabin, like a living room and kitchen together.”
Heeni was studying the stove. “Is it supposed to swing like this?” She rocked it slightly.
Fin pushed it harder until the kettle slid towards the front rail. “It’s gimbled so it always stays level when the boat’s leaning over. Come and look at our cabin up forward.” He led off past the table and two narrow doors into a smaller space with a bunk on each side. A shabby black pirate flag was pinned to a bulkhead behind one of the pillows. “That’s Jake’s bunk. This is mine.” Several photographs were pinned above the pillow on this side, including one showing a huge snapper and another blurred one of a giant stingray. Johnny looked impressed, but Heeni was more interested in the pirate flag,
“I bet Ella would like that flag. Have you seen their green dinghy? The whole black sail has a huge skull and bones.” She sat down on Jake’s bunk looking around curiously, while Fin pointed at a pair of fishing rods strapped above his bunk.
“The black one’s my favourite. I got it from an old Sydney guy after someone snapped my red one. Sam told me you two know heaps about catching fish up the inlet.”
“Yeah – and there’s plenty kaimoana out in the bay too. We’ll eat well when we’re camping with yous out on the island.”
Fin hesitated before speaking, noticing Jake’s face twitch slightly at the mention of camping again. “What’s kaimoa … kai mo … that word you said?”
Johnny cast him a puzzled expression. “Don’t you know what kaimoana is? Oh – you’re from Aussie aren’t you. Kai is food and moana is the sea. Seafood. Simple.”
Jake brightened. “Our friends Zac and Tania have a big boat called Moananui. They’ll be here from Wellington tomorrow night. Moananui means something to do with sea too doesn’t it?”
Heeni stood up “Yep – big sea – like ocean. I s’pose we better go soon. Nan doesn’t know we’ve come right out the inlet to Opua. Don’t want her to get mad with us or she won’t let us camp with yous.” They filed out, pausing briefly to look at the big radio and radar screen behind the navigation table.
“That’s where Jess loves to sit. She’s our sister. She wants to be a ship’s officer when she grows up,” explained Fin. “She’s gone with Mum to get the food for next week when our friends are here from Wellington.”
Watching the two kids leap into their battered dinghy and push themselves clear, it was obvious to Fin that they were very used to small boats. Jake and Fin watched them motoring noisily away, Heeni’s cheerful loud voice calling a farewell across the water before they disappeared behind the little island they called Carrot-top.
Jake was unusually quiet as they made their way back down into the main cabin, but Fin was bubbling with enthusiasm. “It’ll be cool if they come camping. We’ll catch heaps of fish in that dinghy of theirs!”
He was startled by a sudden outburst from Jake. “What got into Ella? She can’t just make plans without talking to us first. We have to wait till the twins get here from Wellington, before we decide what to do this week. I mean those kids seem pretty fun and all, but ….” He tailed off.
Fin looked rather hard at him. “I reckon you just don’t want their old tin dinghy at our camp. You only want pirate dinghies with sails. But theirs will be perfect for fishing.”
Jake shrugged and changed the subject. “Let’s float test those eggs. Mum and Jess will be back soon.”
Sure enough, they had barely filled the red plastic bucket with seawater when the familiar purr of their own outboard motor caught Fin’s attention, followed by a call from their older sister Jess to help unload the big pile of stores from the inflatable. It was over fifteen minutes before they were able to start testing the eggs. Jess was keen to hear about Johnny and Heeni’s brief visit, as they gathered around the bucket.
“They know heaps about fishing around here …” began Fin before his brother interrupted darkly.
“… Ella invited them without even asking us what Zac and Tania want to do!”
Jess nodded and shrugged. “I checked the long range forecast for this week. It’s pretty good for camping. Ella said last week she knows some good campsites on the islands. But we haven’t got enough food for those extra kids as well as the rest of us. The whole idea was mostly just the three of us exploring with Zac and Tania.” She rolled her eyes. “Ella needs to learn to talk about stuff before she makes her bossy plans!”
By now she had opened the plastic container. Fin’s eyebrows shot up instantly. “What are all those marks on the shells?” He picked one up and turned it in his hand. “I think it’s an ‘p’ on this side but it might be a ‘d’ and something else further around here – a two.”
Jake broke into a grin with a sudden realisation. “I reckon Ella or Sam did that! Look at the writing. Remember – they never learnt how to hold a pen properly.”
“Probably in a hurry too,” commented Jess, picking up another egg to examine. “It’s definitely an ‘A’ here. And a three on the other side. Weird. Maybe it’s a code?” She plopped it into the water bucket and reached for another.
They were all eagerly lifting eggs out now, examining them before dropping them carefully into the water. Most had writing on them. One was cracked, and sank immediately to the bottom. Rather a lot of straw and leaves were soon floating on the surface, along with three bobbing eggs. Quite a few more were rolling about in the bottom of the bucket, four of which looked as if they were trying to float.
Jake was examining the marks on the last two when their mother called from the galley. “I need a hand down here. And what are these muddy footprints all over the ladder?”
*
DURING DINNER THAT evening, crowded around the table in the middle of the big cabin, there was plenty to talk about. Their father seemed relieved that his temporary job ashore had been successful and was finally nearly over. “I can’t believe that the marina staff put up with those old computers for so long! The new network should cope much better when it gets busy again next summer.”
Jess was excited too. “The twins should be here tomorrow afternoon! I had a text from Zac just before. They drove as far as Lake Taupo this afternoon. His dad wants to know where to park and put Redbeard in the water. I said to text us when they get to Kawakawa so we have time to get ashore and meet them near the marina slipway.”
Their mother nodded. “It’ll be rather a squash with the twins and their father aboard, but your camping plans will give us room once we’re out at one of the islands.”
Jake looked sideways at Jess, and spoke hesitantly. “I had a text from Ella too, about next week. She and Sam are up to something. She said to let her know what day we’re planning to go. But she didn’t say where. Just said to read the eggs.”
Fin pointed towards the cockpit, and began a complicated explanation for his parents about their afternoon visitors and the float test. Jake waited rather impatiently until he had nearly finished, and rose to his feet before Fin had the chance to mention Johnny’s talk about joining their camp. It had just occurred to him that whatever Ella’s code marks meant, they all needed to be written down before any were broken or cooked.
***