Fishing and planting

Fishing

My family always go out fishing at Avaiki. We take the akau hi (fishing line) with us. Some fish eat coconut meat and some eat fish meat. The names of some of the fishes that come out at night are ta gutuloa and telekihi. There are lots of fish that come out during the day.

Sometimes people go in their canoes out to the ocean. They used to catch lots of big fish while we catch the little red fish. To catch a fish, first you need to put some coconut meat on the matau (fishing hook) and you put the line inside the water, and wait for the fish to eat the coconut meat.

Sometimes we need to wait a while before the fish eat the bait. It can take a long time. I always like to go fishing with my family.
By Louis Beck. I'm from the villages of Toi and Mutalau.

Planting

My grandfather, Sefo Lui goes to the bush every day to plant kumara, taro, banana, and pawpaws. We like to go with grandfather and I like to dig the ground to look for kumara. My grandfather likes to eat taro and I do too. My grandfather takes a bag of taro to the petrol station to sell them.

My grandfather also likes to plant watermelons too. His watermelons are famous on the island. He takes them on Fridays to sell at the market in Alofi. At the Hakupu Show Day this year, my grandfather had a big stall of watermelons. Sometimes he plants rock melons as well. I like the ‘sugar baby’ kind of watermelon that my grandfather plants. I think that one is the juiciest.
By Leilani. I come from the villages of Avatele and Hakupu.