Arawai

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!

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!)

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.