Meanderings

For some reason, one of the things that has stuck with me from childhood is part of the Maori creation myth. I think I had a picture book when I was a kid that had Maori myths in it (not that the Parental Unit wanted me to become enthused about New Zealand or anything), and I remembered the story of the creation of the North Island because, frankly, I thought it was kind of gross.

And here's what I remember:

Maui's brothers were going fishing, but did not invite him. Maui found out about it and invited himself along. But he didn't have a hook or bait. So when they were in the middle of the ocean, he made a hook from the jawbone of his grandmother, and he bloodied his own nose and smeared the blood from it onto the jawbone, and that was the bait. This hook and bait worked out far better than anyone could have expected, for Maui caught a great fish, and heaved and heaved and heaved, and pulled the fish, which became the North Island, out of the sea. The South Island is the boat that Maui was in when he was fishing.

So the other really cool thing about Kaikoura, apart from the seal colonies and marine life and colours of the sea and mountains (which I haven't seen because of fog, but look darned impressive in photos, let me tell you), is this:

There is a point around Kaikoura which, in Maori legend, is where Maui placed his foot for balance and leverage, when he was pulling the North Island out of the sea with his fishing line.

Cool or what?