Hōkūleʻa and Hikianalia depart Rarotonga for Aotearoa

The Polynesian Voyaging Society’s traditional voyaging canoes Hōkūleʻa and Hikianalia departed Rarotonga Tuesday afternoon at approximately 3:45 p.m., beginning their deep-sea voyage to Aotearoa (New Zealand). The open-ocean crossing is expected to take about two weeks, depending on weather conditions.

The crew for this leg of the Moananuiākea Voyage includes a mix of senior and younger navigators and crew members who will continue the intergenerational sharing of traditional wayfinding knowledge.

Hōkūleʻa and Hikianalia have been in the Cook Islands for about two months under the care of the Rarotonga community and voyaging ʻohana. During their stay, crew members continued training and preparing the canoes for this next major leg of the voyage.

The canoes are expected to make landfall at Waitangi, on Aotearoa’s northeastern coast, in early to mid-November, marking 40 years since Hōkūleʻa’s first historic landfall there in 1985. The canoe, along with sister canoe Hikianalia, made a second visit to New Zealand during the Worldwide Voyage in 2014.  

Throughout November, public events and engagements are planned in Waitangi, Auckland and Aurere to celebrate the 40-year relationship between Hōkūleʻa and the Māori voyaging community and this next chapter of the Moananuiākea Voyage.

Following their New Zealand engagements, the canoes will enter dry dock for maintenance and remain in Aotearoa for approximately six months to wait out the South Pacific hurricane season before continuing their journey through the Pacific in 2026.