One day when I was a child I went to a large hui. It was for an unveiling for an old lady. I didn't know who she was but I went anyhow to see it.

When we got there on our bus it was dusk and the meeting house lights were on. We got off the bus and I stood there listening. It was so nice and quiet. I could hear only the birds rustling in the trees and two dogs barking. I stood beside the bus listening to everyone talking, when the bus tooted its horn.

I jumped with shock and ran to hold my granny's hand. Just then the call rang out. ‘Welcome, welcome, welcome.’

I said to my granny, ‘Come on gran. Hurry.’

She replied, ‘Wait. Wait for the rest of the people.’

We all approached and as we came closer to the meeting house, I smelt food and I realised I was hungry. I looked up at gran, to the people around me and I saw they were all crying. So I ran and found the kitchen and when I entered I saw all the cooks sitting around the fire. One of the men said to me. ‘Hello friend. Come and sit down and warm yourself by the fire.’

I sat down beside him. I was terribly hungry and one of the women realised this and brought me some buttered pancakes. I ate all this and as I was warm and tired I fell asleep.

When I finally woke up it was morning and I was sleeping in the meeting house. When all the people went to the cemetery I went instead to the place where they cooked the hangi, to find my friends. We sat around the hangi peeling kumaras and talking. After dinner we all went home again on our bus.

When I was older I had occasion to go back to the same marae, yet I never forgot my first visit there.