‘Kia ora,” I said. June the postie gave me a look. “Kia ora,” she said, and smiled. Then: “Kei te pēhea koe?” It was my turn to give a look. “Er, sorry, ‘kia ora’ is about as far as my Māori goes,” I mumbled.
We gave each other more looks. What she could see was me going as red as a sunburnt bum. What I could see was her smiling at me