Arawai

With Te Aurere still in Tahiti after the epic voyage last August-December to Rapanui (Easter Island) Arawai's sailings from the Maritime Museum in Auckland are still suspended. The progress of the waka for its return to Aotearoa can be watched on http://www.wakatapu.com and teaurere.org.nz/WakaTracker.html

Waka Tapu Canoes Welcomed at Tahiti | New Zealand Waka Homeward Voyage | Auckland - Rapanui- Tahiti. Waka Tapu is a 10,000 mile voyage to Rapanui (Easter Island) and back to Auckland NZ - 2 maori canoes (waka hourua) use non-instrument traditional navigation methods.

Simon Allix and Jerome Maison sailed on the waka today as part of their world tour on the Queen Elizabeth - tough but someone has got to do it! We had a pleasant sail up to Kauri Point before retunring for photos at the stern of the liner

Hi Julian

Please can you pass on our sincere thanks to the captain and crew for the fabulous sail on Te Aurere.

We all absolutely loved it and students mentioned it as a highlight.

We have a few photos enclosed to remind you what a gorgeous day and sail it was.

Have a great weekend and we look forward to working with you again.

Cate and all the MADsters

Cate Jessep | Environmental Education Advisor
Infrastructure & Environmental Services
Auckland Council

How Maori found Aotearoa is the subject of much debate with natural signs like whales and birds figuring large in the discussions. In terms of birds, two species are frequently mentioned - the Koekoea (Long-tailed Cuckoo) and the Kuaka (Godwit). The website features a page on the Koekoea ( http://www.arawai.co.nz/Koekoea.html )as this seems in many respects to be the better bet, breeding only in Aotearoa despite its widespread dispersal across the Pacific during the Southern winter. One of the more telling pieces of evidence which may count against the Kuaka is found in the tracks of migrating birds which have been traced using transmitters attached to the birds. These go nowhere near Central Polynesia from where the antecedents of Maori in Aotearoa are considered to have come. While paths may change over time somewhat it is unclear why the Kuaka would fly anything other than a direct flight from Alaska given the distances involved - it is nearly 11,000 kilometres (over 6,800 miles)on a Great Circle!

Arawai waas delighted to welcome a group of event organisers onto the waka on a familiarisation organised by the Auckland Convention Bureau. Time was a bit short but the potential to vary the experience to meet the interests and aptitudes of different groups was discussed.

More information on the MAD Marine programme can be found at: http://www.doc.govt.nz/getting-involved/for-teachers/education-projects-and-programmes/education-projects-and-programmes-in-auckland/make-a-difference-mad-marine/

Make a Difference (MAD) Marine: Education projects and programmes Find out more about the Make a Difference (MAD) Marine.

Arawai was delighted to transfer a group of student bound for Motutapu from Okahu as part of the "Making a Difference" programme. MAD Marine is an annual programme for potential youth leaders aimed at giving secondary students an exciting marine experience and new found marine knowledge over a three day camp on Motutapu Island in the Hauraki Gulf Marine Park. The programme is run by the Department of Conservation and was initially partnered with the Auckland Regional Council and now with the Auckland Council. Students are then challenged to take their new found marine knowledge and share it with their schools and communities in actions and events during Seaweek in March.

Sibylle D'Orgeval came on board the waka today as part of a fascinating trip around the Pacific Islands interviewing key people in the waka fraternity (aariving from Samoa they left the same day for Tonga!)

Tha sail to Waitangi on 4/5th February was quite a busy trip for the crew so the photo record is sparse. Typicaly this trip can take around 24 hours but was completed in this case in 19 hours. The sail track took the waka inside the Hen and Chickens on the way up to Waitangi and outside on the way back - a more relaxed trip with more photos :-). The waka crews were based near Haruru Falls with the waka taua leaving from there for the celebrations at Waitangi

The PasiMA board of directors sailed on Te Aurere as part of a three-day gathering in Auckland. PasiMA which was founded in August 2010, comprises indigenous media operators throughout the Pacific Islands ( http://pacificmedia.org/ ). PasiMA is committed to supporting and sustaining the information and media networks of the people of Pasifika and defending free speech and media rights in the region. The sail was an opportunity for the board to bond as a group but also to embrace, in a very real way, the concept of navigating and steering the PasiMA waka into its future by experiencing and discussing traditional sailing and navigation on Te Aurere.

Conditions on 6th February when it was planned to return from Waitangi were extremely unfavourable with strong south-easterly winds and swells. It was decided to leave the waka at Waitangi until conditions improved. A small crew (Julian, Tom, Brigit, Hazel, Nastassja and Peter) returned to Waitangi on Thursday 9th and sailed the waka back to Auckland overnight. The modest wind on the retrun leg made for a relaxed 25 hour trip with the sunshade up at times to provde shelter.

The Volvo Race yachts arrived in Auckland for an abbreviated stopover returning after a ten year gap. No filming was allowed of the arrival of the leader on the leg from Xhina, Groupama, but the album contains photyos of the arrival of the remaining five yachts on 11th March and departure on the 18th. Te Aurere formed up with Aotearoa One at the entrance to the Viaduct Basin, right next to the finish line to welcome the yachts with putatara. Te Aurere was in the same position for the depature which saw some exciting "match racing" style sailing as the yatchs did a circuit between the Harbour Bridge and North Head and back to the Harbour Bridge before setting off for the Southern Ocean. For more information visit: www.volvooceanrace.com/ h