Kiwi’s Vision

This story is by Robin Kermode and was part of our 2023 Fall Writing Contest. You can find all the writing contest stories here.

 Kiwis Vision

The moon was bright. The sky was clear. Kiwi was foraging through seaweed on the white sandy beach. He was probing for sandhoppers using his long and special beak. He occasionally looked up to check if there was any danger lurking. If there was, he would scurry fast to the bush line 20 meters away. This day unusually he looked up and out to sea. He usually never sees much. However, today, he saw a volcanic-shaped island dense with a magnificent leafy canopy on top of it. He could see under the lush green clump. There were many different types of twisted branches and trunks. From each trunk and branch,  berries and seeds were growing. As the moon glowed, the bright colours came towards him so he could see the magical-looking tree more clearly.

There were Rimu red berries, Karaka orange berries, bright pink Puriri berries, Kaikōmako purple berries, and Totara red fleshy berries. They all sparkled at him. Then the moon went behind a cloud. He waited and waited to see it appear again. It did not reappear.

Kiwi asked all the other birds whether they had seen the magical tree.

‘No,’ they all replied. The other birds told Kiwi to go to his burrow, where he lived, and not to be so silly to think he could even have a vision. Not one bird believed him. Kiwi was sad. He was sure he had seen a magical tree.

He could not get the colourful, magical canopy out of his brain.

He decided to go to see Taniwha Tamanui-ki-te-rangi, She would know if there was such an island with magical bushes and branches.

‘Yes’, said Taniwha Tamanui-ki-te-rangi. ‘Yes, there is such an island covered in a magical tree.  The name of the tree is ‘tūmatarau rākau whai hua’. (Pronounced  to ma ta row – the argument row, raa ko, fye, who a)  It means a magical tree bearing fruit.

Keep saying its name ‘tūmatarau rākau whai hua’, if you want to find the magical tree.  Start where you had your vision, then keep saying the trees name.

Don’t look up, down, or sideways, as the name will be lost from your brain. When you see the island say its name, ‘tūmatarau rākau whai hua,’ and when you see the magical tangled branches and trunks  say its name, ‘tūmatarau rākau whai hua,’  When you do this the magical tree with all its berries it will release some fruits for you to eat. They will fall to the ground.

‘Remember looking ahead is the most important thing.’

Kiwi rushed back to tell all the other birds. They all said he couldn’t go as he couldn’t fly, see, or swim.

‘I will go,’ said Kererū. I can fly 20km over land and sea.

The birds let her go.

Kererū ate a few karaka berries and off she flew.

Kererū kept saying, ‘ tūmatarau rākau whai hua.’

She had not flown far when she came across a ferry. Flying low, she realized she might hit the ferry. She just missed it! As she tried to avoid bumping into the ferry, she looked up. She kept thinking how lucky she was to miss it. The name went out of her brain, ‘ tūmatarau rākau.’

Kererū flew back to the birds to tell them she had lost focus.

‘I will go,’ said Tākapu, ‘I have great vision and I am fast. I can see fish from great heights so I will see the island with the magical tree easily. I can hit the water at 100km an hour hunting fish. I am focused and powerful.’

The birds let him go.

‘tūmatarau rākau whai hua,’ he said.

 ‘Watch out for the ferry,’ said Kererū.

tūmatarau rākau whai hua’ said Tākapu and he glided gracefully into the distance.

Tākapu saw the ferry and flew way above it. He didn’t look down. He was born to focus at sea. Then he spotted a boil-up/ feeding frenzy with pilchards and anchovies. He had to grab a snapper when it was easy.

‘tūmatarau rākau whai hua’

He spotted a snapper 20 meters below the surface. He dived vertically at 100km an hour like he had done many times before. Food was scarce, and you had to get it when you could. He tried to remember the name of the magical tree.

‘tūmatarau hua’

The name went out of his brain.

 Tākapu flew back to tell the birds he had lost focus.

‘I will go in search of the island,’ said Kōtare. I can feed on the way. I will keep the name in my brain.

 ‘tūmatarau rākau whai hua’

‘Look out for the ferry,’ said Kererū.

‘Don’t feed on the way,’ said Tākapu.

 Kōtare saw the ferry”.

‘tūmatarau rākau whai hua’

  She saw the boil up.

‘tūmatarau rākau whai hua’

She saw an island and saw some insects and spiders. Then she spotted a stoat. She was suddenly scared.

Tūma whai hua’.

 She tried to remember the name – the name had gone out of her brain and she flew back to tell the birds  the name had left her brain.

‘Please let me go,’ said Kiwi. ‘I can’t fly, I can’t see, and I can’t swim; however, I had the vision.

The birds let him go.

He  went back to  spot he had the vision. Helooked up at the moon and the skies.

Kiwi kept repeating the name.

‘tūmatarau rākau whai hua,’

The moon, the stars and beyond whispered back at him, with a wind that rippled his feathers.

He woke at dusk, he ran down to the rocky shore’s edge. He called ‘tūmatarau rākau whai hua’  Kororā came out from the sea.

 ‘We will make a raft for you’, they replied. ‘There will be one Kororā in the front (a lead Kororā announced), one at the back ( she will be the rudder giving the raft direction), five of us will be in the middle, and one Kororā on top who you can grip on to when the going gets tough. Hop on our raft, stay focused, and wrap your legs around Kororā on the raft. He will keep you safe, when we hit a wave, ‘

Kiwi happily climbed onto the Kororā raft. ‘We will all work together’, continued the lead kororā. As they took off into the ocean they all chanted.

‘ tūmatarau rākau whai hua’ ‘ tūmatarau rākau whai hua’

‘Mind the ferry,’ said Kererū.

‘Don’t stop at the boil up,’ said Tākapu.

‘Watch out for the stoat,’ said Kōtare.

Kiwi was focused. He had a team. The name would not leave his brain.

‘tūmatarau rākau whai hua’

 He knew how to find the cone-shaped island with a magical tree bearing all the fruits of Aotearoa.

The kororā dodged the ferry;  They passed close to the boil up; They passed the island with the stoat.

‘tūmatarau rākau whai hua’

  More Kororā swam came to swim alongside the raft and joined in the chanting. The chanting got louder and louder

‘tūmatarau rākau whai hua’

‘tūmatarau rākau whai hua’

They hit a wave. Kiwi clung on.

They travelled for two days. Like a choir, they all chorused together.

 ‘tūmatarau rākau whai hua’

They stayed focused and all looked ahead.

‘tūmatarau rākau whai hua’

Then, one evening, after two days and two nights of travelling, when the moon was full and glowing, like a Phoenix rising out of the water, a tiny cone-shaped island appeared glowingly in front of them.

Looking at the island and the magical tree on it, Kiwi chanted again disbelievingly and forever grateful, ‘tūmatarau rākau whai hua.’

There were a hundred rafts of kororā and above them flew kererū, tākapu, kotare and other seabirds.

 The Kororā raft moved like waka, together in synchronicity, and you could hear the beautiful chanting ‘tūmatarau rākau whai hua.’

The waka was magnetised towards a magical cone-shaped island with a magical tree.

It was a beautiful sight, with the birds on top of the rafts and a cacophony of birds all chanting.

‘tūmatarau rākau whai hua.’

As they arrived on the island Kiwi shouted to them, ‘Don’t stop saying the name’.

‘tūmatarau rākau whai hua.’

When they all saw the entwined branches and sparkling coloured bush, they said the name  of the magical tree a last time

 ‘tūmatarau rākau whai hua.’

Like water cascading down a mountain, the different berries from all the Aotearoa native trees came tumbling out of the tangled branches. In the moonlight the fruit kept sparkling as it dropped. This made Kiwi’s heart glow.

 ‘Enjoy these native fruits,’ Kiwi said after everyone had feasted. We have a second chance to look after our own island. Take the fruit into your bodies then release them in your scat,  back on our island.’Kiwi said passionately.

Everyone listened. Native invertebrates, plants and birds did thrive and humans came to wonder.

Kiwi slept peacefully in his burrow, visualising big sandhoppers and giant/juicy worms for  his breakfast the next day.