Parrot's Cave in Maori by Mia Bowen Copyright © 2014. All Rights Reserved

Jack and Lisa were spending their summer holidays at their Grandma's house by the seaside.

"Go play on the beach," suggested Grandma. "But all we've found are washed up jellyfish, broken shells and smelly old seaweed," grumbled Jack.

"Then go and feed the old parrot in the shed," said Grandma. "He used to belong to the old Maori fisherman who lived next door. He used to take him everywhere he went." Jack and Lisa walked down to the dark old shed at the back of the yard. They opened the door, not knowing what to expect.

An ear-splitting screech made Jack and Lisa leap back in fright. The big old bird, was perched on the back of a broken chair, slowly flapping his colourful wings back and forth.

Without taking his beady black eyes off them, the parrot slowly settled back onto his wooden perch. In a loud voice, he screeched, "Kia ora!"

"He's speaking Maori to us!" exclaimed Lisa. Jack and Lisa had just started learning Maori that year at school with Mrs Ngata. But Mrs Ngata hadn't mentioned Maori-speaking parrots in class before!

"Kia ora! He aha tō ingoa?" asked Jack. "Ko Pita tōku ingoa," replied the parrot.

"Do you want to go for a walk with us," asked Jack, not expecting an answer. "Me haere tātou! Me haere tātou!" replied Pita, and flew straight out the open door. "Me haere tātou ki te moana!" "Yes, let's go!" shouted Lisa and ran down towards the beach. Suddenly the day was looking a lot more exciting for Jack and Lisa.

Jack, Lisa and Pita carefully climbed down the crumbling cliff steps onto the beach. "Kia tere!" squawked Pita.

A few fishermen pointed and waved from their boats. They recognised the old parrot from years before.

"Look at the colourful huts!" exclaimed Lisa, pointing at the old bathing huts. Each hut had a different coloured door.

kōwhai .... karaka .... māwhero .... whero ..... waiporoporo .... kākāriki

yellow ... orange ... pink ... red ... purple ... green blue ... brown ... grey ... black ... white

kahurangi ....... parauri ....... kiwikiwi ....... pango ....... mā

Suddenly Pita flew up and past the huts, past the rocks and around the corner to the next beach.

Jack and Lisa chased Pita and saw him fly into a dark cave at the base of a cliff. Jack called out to him, "Kei hea koe?" He heard Pita call, "Haere mai!" Jack and Lisa hesitated. Perhaps this wasn't such a great idea.

A small stream flowed out of the cave, collecting in a wide rock pool blocking the entrance, before running off into the waves. "Kei konei au," called out Pita's voice as they entered the dark cave. "He taonga kei konā," squawked Pita. "Heoi ... kia tūpato!" Lisa raised her eyebrows at Jack. "Treasure?" she whispered.

Pita flew towards twelve large rocks sitting in the pool of water. He landed on the closest one and started to count as he hopped from one to another...

"Ka tahi, ka rua, ka toru, ka whā, ka rima, ka ono, ka whitu, ka waru, ka iwa, tekau, tekau mā tahi... me te ... tekau mā rua."

He immediately started splashing in the water around the rock, hopping and squawking in excitement.

"I think Pita wants us to lift up the rock," said Lisa. "Āe, āe!" squawked Pita. Jack and Lisa started to dig under the rock and tried to lift up the rock.

"Kāo, kāo!" screeched Pita. "Kia tūpato!" A large nipper suddenly appeared from underneath the rock and just missed Jack's fingers.

Jack slipped back on the slimy rock and fell into the water, splashing all of them. He chased the crab away and managed to push the rock aside. He dug deeper and deeper.

"Titiro, titiro!" squawked Pita. "There's something in there!" shouted Lisa in excitement. They both reached down and uncovered a box buried in the sand.

Jack lifted it out of the sand and placed it on a rock ledge. "Tino pai!" squawked Pita.

"Huakina te pouaka! Huakina!" squawked Pita. Lisa opened the lid of the old wooden box. A soggy leather bag lay inside. When she shook the bag, some gold coins fell out. They glinted and gleamed in the light.

Lisa picked them up in amazement. They were heavy and looked extrememly old. "Let's take them home and show Grandma," said Jack.

"Oh no!" cried Lisa when they turned back towards the entrance of the cave. It was now blocked by the waves of the incoming tide.

"Ki te kāinga! Ki te kāinga!" squawked Pita. He flew towards the back of the cave. "Follow Pita home," called out Lisa. He looks like he knows where he's going. Pita called out instructions in the gloom of the cave.

"Haere tōtika ..." They followed him straight towards the back of the cave. "Mauī ..." They turned left into a narrow tunnel ... "Matau ..." The cave suddenly twisted to the right and ended in a huge jumble of dry rocks.

"Ka pai!" squawked Pita from above. They all climbed to safety back on the beach and returned home with the gold pieces.

Grandma couldn't believe her eyes when they arrived with their gleaming gold coins. "This must be the luckiest parrot in the world!" she exclaimed.

"And the smartest!" added Lisa. "I will be so sad when we have to leave." "Haere rā," squawked Pita sadly.

Grandma smiled. "But you can take him with you!" "He'll be much happier living with you two." "I can just imagine the adventures you three will have!"

"Now let's celebrate with some cake!" "Te reka kē!" they all cried out together.