I te putanga atu i te huarahi matua, ka anga atu ki tētahi rori uku e rua ngā ara e anga atu ana ki te takutai rāwhiti o Avalon, he maha ngā wā ka pania tēnei rori, nō reira kāore i te tino mārama mēnā he nui ake te āhua me te āhua o te rori i te uku taketake.
Koinei te whenua pakoko o Avalon, ko te rākau anake kei runga ake i ō pakihiwi, e āraia ana e te hau, e huna ana i te awaawa.
Kua whakatakotoria ngā roto me ngā rakau pakoko ano he whāriki nunui, e toro atu ana ki te pae tawhiti i ngā taha e rua, he paki, he wera, he maroke te whenua, ā, e pupū ana te kakara o ngā rakau me ngā repo pīti.
I tū taku waka ki runga i tētahi wāhi iti o te oneone me te kirikiri, ā, ka kite atu ahau i tētahi roto nui me te pikinga ohorere o te toka i te taha o te pari i tētahi taha. He maha ngā wā he hohonu ake te wai i tēnei wāhi, ā, he maha ngā momo ika taraute. Kotahi kiromita te tawhiti atu i te rori, engari he mea whakamīharo te tawhiti i konei: kāore he mea i roto i ō kanohi hei hopu me te whakatakoto i tētahi tauine mārama, ko ngā ngaru ngawari anake i runga i te whenua me ngā huruhuru i hangaia e ngā tipu e pupuhihia ana e te hau.
Kātahi ka hikoi ahau i te ara pahikara repo i waenganui i ngā tipu repo e tata pakarukaru ana. Ko ngā kai kai anake e kaukau ana i te rā e āhua mākū ana kia ora ai, ko ō rātou rau āhua whetu i miharo ki ngā pata piri ataahua. He pakari, he pakarukaru ngā tipu o te ipu, me te mea kei te tere haere mai te ua. I te taha o tētahi rori iti, kātahi ka puta mai tētahi kahui manu iti i mua i ahau, e titiro mai ana, e hamama ana, mō tētahi take, e rere tonu ana i te huarahi kotahi tonu ki ahau. E kore taku rōpū whakaharatau e rere atu kia puta rā anō te taiepa toka ki mua tonu i ahau.
I tangohia e au te aho, i hiki ake, i mau hoki i tētahi ika rahi-waenga, kātahi ka noho ki te taha o te toka, ka tangohia ōku pūtu me ōku tōkena, ka okioki ki te toka, ka takahi ki runga i te wai parauri mahana. Ka rongo au i te tangi nui, kanapa o te Āhipere, engari kāore au e kite i tōna tangi i te rangi. He hau i runga i te wai, ā, ka whakaaro ahau ki te kaukau. I mua i ōku kanohi, ka peia ētahi motuka me ngā taraka i te huarahi. Ko te kirikiri me ngā ara hīkoi kua ara ake ka waiho te huarahi hei rohe i waenganui i te rangi me te whenua, nō reira kei te peia ngā waka ki tētahi wāhi.
Kua whakatakotoria ngā roto me ngā rakau pakoko ano he whāriki nunui, e toro atu ana ki te pae tawhiti i ngā taha e rua, he paki, he wera, he maroke te whenua, ā, e pupū ana te kakara o ngā rakau me ngā repo pīti.
Nō reira, i te urunga ki te waka, i te taha o te takutai, ka rere ki roto i te wai parauri pāpaku, whānui, me te awa kōhatu iti, ka horoia e te wai mō te wā roa, kia rite ai te āhua o te ware pi me te porowhita. Kāore i te maha ngā ika, ā, i te wāhi kei reira rātou, ka mau rātou i roto i ngā rua hohonu, i raro i ngā pareparenga kua tapahia, ka piko te wai o te awa, ka tapahi i te whenua i raro i ngā rākau, ā, ko te wai tere e rere ana i ngā kokonga ka panaia ngā kōhatu ki raro. Pana kia hanga he awaawa me he pā. I puta te tangata pakari, ā, i ngaua e ngā namu e ngā kanohi āniwaniwa, engari i pērā anō ngā pepeke, ka peke atu rātou ki ngā namu e karapoti ana i mua i te ngau kino.
I te kokonga, te āhua nei kei te horomia e te haruru o te wai rere ētahi atu oro, nō reira ko te haruru ngawari o te wai e rere ana i runga i a ia anō. He tino wera te rā, ā, he wera rawa atu ngā toka o te awa i runga i tōku tuara. Kāore he okiokinga mō te rā kotahi.
Russell Wangersky’s column appeared in the SaltWire newspaper and website on the Canadian Atlantic coast. You can contact him at russell.wangersky@thetelegram.com-Twitter: @wangersky.