comscore Hokule'a, escort canoe make 2nd landfall in New Zealand | Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Top News

Hokule’a, escort canoe make 2nd landfall in New Zealand

Honolulu Star-Advertiser logo
Unlimited access to premium stories for as low as $12.95 /mo.
Get It Now
  • COURTESY POLYNESIAN VOYAGING SOCIETY
    The crewmembers of the Hokulea and Hikianalia were greeted in Whangarei with a welcome ceremony.

The voyaging canoes Hokule’a and Hikianalia arrived in Whangarei, New Zealand, at about 3 p.m. Friday, Hawaii time, and were greeted with a welcome ceremony or powhiri. 

The canoes arrived from Waitangi, where the vessels and crew were hosted by the local Maori community,  celebrating Hokule’a’s first return to New Zealand or Aotearoa in 29 years.

According to the Polynesian Voyaging Society, the canoes will spend several days in Whangarei, conducting community and educational outreach to further the canoes’ mission of Malama Honua — Caring for Our Island Earth.

“We want to hear their (the community’s) stories of what they are doing in terms of sustainability of the environment and ocean resources,” master navigator Kalepa Baybayan said in a statement issued by the society. “We want to host this conversation so that we can share it with the rest of the world.”

Comments have been disabled for this story...

Click here to see our full coverage of the coronavirus outbreak. Submit your coronavirus news tip.

Be the first to know
Get web push notifications from Star-Advertiser when the next breaking story happens — it's FREE! You just need a supported web browser.
Subscribe for this feature

Scroll Up