Tintin in New Zealand

Tintin in New Zealand

After defeating the evil Kangaroo in the land of Aussie, Tintin and his crew set out for another adventure. With the warm and humid westerly wind in the air, the Captain decided this is the best time to set sail for Aotearoa, the land of the long white cloud. Everyone is excited about the decision, Tintin wants to meet the Maori, Calculus wants to capture the legendary moose that is said to be hopping around in the deep fiordland’s bush, and the Captain hopes to catch the Americans cup in action, which is going to take place in the Auckland harbour soon. And of course everyone can’t wait to taste the fish n chips of New Zealand. It doesn’t take long before the Sydney harbour disappears from everyone’s eye sight.
“How are you going to capture this deer?” Captain asks.
“Yeah, a hunter in New Zealand has spent 30 years searching for it but found noting yet.” Tintin added. From his bag, Calculus takes out his hearing aid device and says: “with this I will capture the deer, my friend from Canada had helped me to fine tune it in order to pick up the ultrasonic voice of deer that is not noticeable for human ear.”
“Well good luck professor.” Captain joked.
“Wow wow!” Snowy suddenly barks
“What’s the matter snowy?”Asked Tintin
“Wow wow!” Snowy bark more intensively
“Look! A giant wave is coming toward us!” Tintin yells
“Oh no, why this time!! Everyone into the cabin immediately” the Captain commands
“Shut all the windows and doors and stay calm!” Captain
“Where is the professor?” Tintin asks
Calculus had left his bag on the deck and went back for it.
“Come back in you fool!” Captain yells and gone right out to grab the professor, and as soon as the Captain reached him, a huge shadow of the wave cast over the ship.
Whoomfaaaa!!!
It was a mess. The force of the wave was so powerful that it put a big hole in the ship. Windows smashed, water was everywhere and worst of all the captain and professor were both missing.
“Snowy, hang on to me. I am trying to manoeuvre the ship with its last bit of power before it sinks completely.” Tintin says.
With the force of the wave, Tintin managed to land the ship on the shore but the ship is totally wrecked and refused to start again.
“At least we landed; I am worried about the professor and captain.” Tintin says.
“It’s pretty late now; we will camp out for the night and search for them as soon as the sun rises”. It was the most uncomfortable night Tintin ever had. Constantly he woke up in the night worrying about his two mates.
The next morning, Tintin opened his eyes to see that they had landed on a golden sandy beach that stretched as far as he can see. The weather was so calm and the waves gently beat against the beach. They just couldn’t believe what had happened to them yesterday. After trying to communicate with anyone without success, Tintin packed up and left the ship. It was now 3pm and there is still no sign of the professor and the captain.
“Come on snowy, let’s climb up to the mountain so we can see further.”
Walking up the hill, Tintin noticed there was a well under a giant tree. “I wonder what’s in there” says Tintin. The well looked as old as the tree that stood next to it and was dark and deep. “Probably just an ancient well, never mind, let’s carry on to the hill”. As he turned around, he accidentally tripped on the root of the tree and the next thing he knew he was falling straight to the bottom of the well into the darkness. Snowy didn’t want to be parted from Tintin so he jumped straight into the well.
“Am I alive or dead? Where am I? “Tintin asked. Through his blurry vision, he saw a figure with a full tattoo on his face. “It must be judgment day, I must be dead”. “Are you ok, my friend?” the tattooed faced man asked. Slowly Tintin recovered
“Wo! Who are you?”

man said.
“Oh, I am Tintin. Sorry I was freaked out by your tattoo, and I thought I was in hell or something!”
Tane laughs and continued:” this is called Ta moko, it is the custom of Maori culture.” “Maori? So I am now in New Zealand?” Tintin says with delight.
“Yes my friend, you are indeed in New Zealand. My son Maaka found you while out hunting.” Says Tane.
“Hi Tintin, I am Maaka” says Maaka with snowy in his arm.
“Thanks for saving us Maaka” says Tintin.
“Sweet as bro, no worries!” Maaka says.
Tintin couldn’t believe what he saw when he stepped out from the Marae. “Oh my God!!” he said rubbing his eyes in disbelief. “Is this for real?” he yells. In front of him he sees flocks of giant Moas, some are 12 feets tall, feeding at the edge of the settlement. The Piopio, with its beautiful voice singing in the air, takahe running wildly and so many more unknown birds in the forest.
“Welcome to the real Aotearoa.” Tane said.
Meanwhile, not far from Tane’s village. “Where the hell is this place?” asks the Captain. “You aren’t going to find moose down here at the bottom of the well!! We are supposed to be looking for Tintin and snowy!!” said the captain frustratingly.
“Shhhhhh, listen, isn’t that the sound of deer?” says Calculus
“Don’t you shhhh me! Besides I can’t hear anything!” the Captain mumbles.
“Let’s get closer and have a look” with his special device Calculus moves forward followed by the Captain. Suddenly, an arrow landed right in front of them. They turned around trying to run away but more arrows follow.
“Who are you? What are you doing here?” a tattooed face warrior wearing a feather coat sitting on a deer asks. As Calculus and Captain looked up, they realised they surrounded by 10 or so warriors all riding on deer.
“Moose, its really deer, I told you we will find them!!” says Calculus in delight.
“I am Captain Haddock and this is professor Calculus.” The Captain told the warriors.
“Tie them up and bring them back to the Marae.”
“Wait! We come in peace. “The Captain objected but is too late; two big men came up to them and tie and both of them up with flax rope.
Back at the Marae, Tane is showing his guests around his village, when suddenly a big man comes in. “hey chief, the hunting went really well and we got something extra for the Hangi tonight.” He said.
“Oh yeah?” says Tane and turns to Tintin and says “you are in luck my friend.”
As the warrior’s march into the village, only then Tintin recognizes the extra found for the Hangi means his lost friends.
“Help Tintin” yells Captain.
“Hey chief Tane, there must be some misunderstanding here, they are my lost friends that I told you about.” Says Tintin
The captain and professor greeted Tane after they were released, then they sit around to watch a welcome dance perform by the villages.
At dinner, Tane speaks of how his ancestors foresaw the impact of human settlement on Aotearoa and decided to create this hidden world to preserve the originality of New Zealand, and prevent the extinction of so many animals that are now extinct.
“What about the deer?” asked Calculus curiously.
“haha, my father bought them from a Canadian captain on a trip over there, they prove to be better riding then horse.” Says Tane
“We want to keep the deer business totally secret but one moose escaped from our farm last time, and I heard it cost a lot of attention else where in New Zealand” he continued. Everyone laughed. As the night went on the sound of laughing owl taking over the conversation, everyone went back to their bed.
Next morning, Tintin’s crew and Tane go on a hunting trip. All of them riding on the back of a deer and back of them were given some bows and arrows. Tane was right, the moose indeed provided a better ride. Wondering through the thick forest and pick up animal’s sign on the way they reached a huge grassland with a few deer grazing on the grass. Just as everyone has their arrow on the string, the deer started to run like crazy. “What happened? Did they spot us?” Tintin asks. All the sudden a black shadow cast over everyone and Tane yell:” watch out is Pouakai, the giant eagle! Hide into the bush!!”
The giant eagle or Hasst’s eagle with its wind span up to three meters propel itself like a missile from the sky charging straight toward snowy with its steel liked craw. “Run Snowy run!!” Tintin yelled and trying to reach out to Snowy, but the wind that the eagle generated was so powerful that everyone is knocked back. With the speed of lighting, the eagle picked up snowy and disappears in the sky.
“The eagle has also stolen some of my livestock, today I will take my revenge.” says Tane.
“Don’t worry Tintin, I know where the nest of the eagle is, let’s go rescue your friend”. After summon some of his best warrior, they start climbing the towering mountain at the end of the valley. Is a difficult journey; the path to the peak of the mountaining where the eagle nest is steep and rocky. However everyone is determined. With high spirits they finally reached the nest. The eagle happened to be asleep when they arrived but there was no sign of Snowy.
“Oh no, Snowy might have been eaten…” Tintin crys.
“Look, there snowy is waged between the eagle’s eggs!” say Tane
The joy of knowing Snowy still alive is so overwhelming, Tintin totally forgets about the danger of the eagle and yells: “Snowy!” Disrupted and awaken, the eagle is angry. It beat its wings furiously, firing a wave of stones towards everyone. Some of the brave warriors trying to take on the eagle but the mighty eagle is too powerful to be confronted. Arrows are fired but none of them seems to stop the fuming eagle. In a desperate attempt Tintin leaps on to the claw of the eagle and bites the claw as hard as he can. The bite sends a lot of pain to the eagle; as it drops snowy but also flies away in a panic.
“Snowy, are you ok?” Tintin
“wow wow” Snowy
With snowy in his arm Tintin says :”I will never let go of you again my dear friend.”
Back at the village Tintin is welcomed by the villager like a hero. That night Tane organises a big dinner party to honour and celebrate Tintin’s victory. Everyone is having a really good time. Food and drink are plentiful, and people dance to the music. It is a night not to be forgotten.
When Tintin and the others wake up in the morning, they are surprised to find no trace of the village let alone Tane and his villager. They are back at the beach where they first landed. Next to the wreck of their ship lay a beautiful carved Waka. A figure on the front of the Waka resembles that of Tane the chief.
“Look, there is a message here!” yells Calculus
Dear friend
It was a pleasure to have you with us for the last few days, your story of bravery and love for friendship has touched us deeply. Unfortunately our ancestor had once stated outside we are not allowed to stay for more than certain day hence here you are at where you came from. Please have my Waka to finish your journey and may Tangarao, the god of sea and fish be with you.
Tane

Tintin and friends wanted to go back and thanks Tane for his hospitality and most importantly saving all of their life but the ancient well is never to be found again. Leaving with disappointment, Tintin left his favourite scarf on the big tree that stood next to the site of the well as a message to Tane’s people.
“Farewell my friend, hope to see you again” Tintin says.
“oh right, let’s go, we might be in time for the Americans cup in Auckland” the Captain says.
Off Tintin and his friends go, to embark on another journey.