Māui paddled by the light of Marama, the moon, so even when all his brothers fell asleep, he continued to wade in the water until morning, when he was finally satisfied.
Māui told his brothers he would go retrieve his hook from the sea and warned them not to damage the smooth, flat surface of the giant fish.
Just like the book says, the Māori myth recites how Māui's brothers began carving out pieces of the huge fish, creating the many valleys, mountains, and lakes that you see today on the North Island.
[9] Over many thousands of years, those valleys and mountains became part of the landscape of New Zealand, Aotearoa, as we know it today and in time birds, plants, animals and people populated the giant fish of Māui.
[12] When looked at today, the head of the fish sits on the southern end of the North Island, now recognised as Wellington, while the tail stretches to the very tip of the country in what we know as the Northland region.