The crews of two traditional voyaging waka that left New Zealand in August have been welcomed ashore at Rapanui/Easter Island.
The Te Aurere and the Ngahiraka Mai Tawhiti – skippered by Mount Maunganui resident Jack Thatcher - arrived ahead of schedule late last week and have been waiting onboard for guests and elders to arrive for the official welcome.
One of the traditional kauri waka now at Easter Island.
Jack says the crew predicted the final leg of their 10,000 nautical mile voyage from Mangareva to Easter Island would be the most difficult part.
They were fortunate to sail through a corridor of favourable winds from the north and west that gave them a boost, so they arrived ahead of schedule.
His crew are so close to the island they have been watching the locals practising their welcome and he says they can't wait to walk on dry land.
Hekenukumai Busby of Northland, who built both waka, starting with Te Aurere 20 years ago, will be part of the welcome ceremony.
As part of the ceremony the Te Aurere crew will be taking some mauri (sacred) stones brought from Aotearoa to be laid at the foot of the Moai - the ancient human figures carved out of stone.
After some time on the island Jack's crew will make a return journey via Tahiti. The waka will be left in French Polynesia or the Cook Islands while the cyclone season passes. They plan to complete the trip back to New Zealand in March and April next year.
The Rapanui voyage completes the polynesian triangle for the New Zealand waka, which have now sailed to all three points - Hawaii, Aotearoa and Rapanui.
'Today the waka reached Rapanui safely – using only the stars, moon, sun, ocean currents, birds and marine life to guide their way across 5000 nautical miles of the Pacific Ocean,” says Associate Tourism Minister Chris Tremain.
'This is a fantastic accomplishment. Not only has this historic voyage allowed the crews to retrace the steps of their ancestors back to Eastern Polynesia, it helps retain and document indigenous navigational and environmental knowledge for future generations.”
The voyage to Rapanui took 16 weeks, including stopovers in Raivavae and Mangareva in French Polynesia.
For further information go to www.wakatapu.com
6 comments
fraud
Posted on 07-12-2012 10:49 | By Captain Sensible
If that is a "traditional waka" then I am the first person to walk on Mars. Do they take all the public for fools? There have been many letters to "The Sun" regarding the fraud involved here. It is not a traditional waka, they cheated with their navigation by using latitude and distances that were certainly not traditional, they used radios to keep in touch with the other boat, they had electricity aboard and thus microwaved dinners, e.mail etc. You can fool some of the people some of the time but not fool all the people all the time. This is no more a "fantastic accomplishment" than any boat or ship arriving at its destination.
Traditional kauri waka -say what
Posted on 07-12-2012 15:45 | By Hebegeebies
More like and closer to the plastic fantastic thing used for World Cup at Princes Wharf location.This is a farce pure and simple.
PC farce
Posted on 07-12-2012 20:52 | By Major Think
Traditional maori satellite navigation and satellite communications, traditional batteries, traditional radios and even traditional maori paint and rigging. Hahahaha this is definitely a fraud. Do they really think the public are so gullible and stupid? Obviously the PC Chris Tremain is. Yeah, this is a PC farce.
Wakatapu
Posted on 07-12-2012 21:43 | By butler
This has been a remarkable voyage and so good for all the crew. An adventure for the young people on board, a chance to sail with the most remarkable leader and navigator Jack Thatcher. I'm really glad that Hekenukumai Busby has been able to go to Rapanui and celebrate with the crew. All voyages in small vessels over such a lot of ocean are brilliant adventures. Well done Jack and I hope that there will be many more such voyages taking young Maori on the thrill ride of their lives. Oh, and it is impossible to cheat the sea, as many have found to their peril throughout history>
what a load of
Posted on 08-12-2012 06:23 | By AratakiJive
codswollop!.. They had every modern day navigation equipment needed on an ocean lines.. but it was for "safety".. yeah right!
enough lies
Posted on 08-12-2012 09:53 | By Captain Sensible
So if you put a maori carved figurehead on any boat or ship, like magic, it suddenly becomes a "traditional" boat or ship?! Please stop insulting our intelligence. This is not, or anything like, a traditional waka and the navigation was done using nautical charts and all the other non-maori means of navigation. I have had a gutsfull of these lies and this fake phoney maori "traditional" this and that.
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