After ten minutes or so, Pimi decided that it was time to take her baby home. She gave a long burst of clicks before turning and moving out to sea. The calf gave Steph a nudge as he turned and followed. We watched silently, each of us saying our goodbyes until long after they had moved out of sight.
Steph was the first to recover. ‘Race you in,’ she challenged.
‘You’re on,’ I replied, looking around for a suitable wave. One was coming right up. I turned and waited. As it came in, I paddled furiously to get up to speed. Only then did I realize how big it was, but it was too late to pull out. I got to my feet and began surfing, expecting to wipeout at any moment.
However, there was something magical about that wave. It stayed perfect for longer than any wave I’ve ever ridden. It seemed impossible to fall off. I started yelling for the joy of it. Then I heard Steph yelling next to me. I looked over my shoulder and there she was. But not on her knees: she was on her feet, riding the wave like a pro.
Anyone watching us that afternoon would have thought we were mad. We screamed our way into the shore. Even when the wave broke, we somehow managed to stay upright, and kept screaming. I moved forward on the board so that the fins wouldn’t dig into the sand, and it was that which helped me to win. Steph’s board got stuck in the shallows and mine moved a few metres past her.
‘I did it! I did it!’ she shouted, rushing up to me.
‘Yeah,’ I agreed. ‘But I won.’
She put her arm around me and squeezed. ‘I won, too,’ she said. ‘Because now I can surf properly, just like you and your dad.’ She gave another squeeze. ‘Does that make me acceptable in your family?’
‘Oh, I don’t know,’ I said. ‘To be in our family you have to be able to pull a motor apart and put it back together again.’
‘I’ll do that,’ she said, dancing around in front of me. ‘When you come back from school, I’ll show you.’ She picked up her board and began prancing up the beach. ‘You just wait,’ she threw over her shoulder. ‘I’ll end up doing it better than you can.’
I watched her go. ‘Yes,’ I said quietly to myself. ‘It wouldn’t surprise me if you did, little sister. It wouldn’t surprise me at all.’
Praise for The Moa Cave
A haunting and intriguing story.—Animals’ Voice
…a real page-turner avoiding obvious plotlines and neatly capturing modern-day “tween” sensibilities.
—NorthSouth
Praise for A Friend in Paradise
A thrilling mix.—Otago Daily Times
This is an exciting read that is so very New Zealand you can just about smell the bush.—New Books
Praise for Frog Whistle Mine
Des Hunt has once again woven his magic in this delightful novel…which transcends the generation gap.
—Wanganui Chronicle
Praise for Where Cuckoos Call
…fast-moving, often witty, novel.—Magpies
This home-grown ecological thriller is proof-positive there is more out there to entertain younger readers than just that prep-school wizard Harry.
—Wairarapa Times-Age
Praise for Shadows in the Ice
The author cleverly creates an element of danger and high adventure [so] the reader is engaged as soon as the first chapter is completed.—Hawkes Bay Today
…the dramatic New Zealand landscape [is] a powerful force in its own right.—Sunday Star Times
…a rip-roaring finale that would make a fantastic film.
—The Dominion Post
Praise for The Tooth
…the perfect book for when it’s too wet to go outside and dig up a pterodactyl.—Tearaway
…good yarns with strong science themes featuring believable boys.—The Dominion Post
Copyright
HarperCollinsPublishers
First published in 2009
This edition published in 2010
by HarperCollinsPublishers (New Zealand) Limited
P.O. Box 1, Auckland
Copyright © Des Hunt 2009
Des Hunt asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publishers.
HarperCollinsPublishers
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National Library of New Zealand Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
Hunt, Des, 1941-
Whale Pot Bay / Des Hunt
ISBN 978 0 7304 0003 5(pbk.)
ISBN 978 1 8695 0730 5 (epub)
I. Title.
NZ823.3—dc 22
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